Blog Details

1. What Is It About

Over the past few years, climate change has become a major issue in India. The threats by climate change are very evident. Global warming is one the major reasons for climate change, India is among the countries which will face serious consequences of global warming. It will also impact the economic growth and social development of India. It is the main reason why India is a party to multilateral climate change negotiations which are done under the framework of the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Due to the rapid increase in industrialization and urbanization, climate change in India adds more pressure on socio-economic and ecological systems. So, India has understood the importance of environmental laws. With time, legislations have been made to protect the environment and laws which were made covering the punitive aspect only. The nation realised that there is a need to make changes in the law, so the objective of the legislation has changed from punitive to preventive. 

To deal with the problem of global warming, the Central Government in coordination with the State Government has established environmental laws within the framework of India’s development agenda.

Each State is now also in the process of developing State Action Plans on climate change with recommendations on how mitigation and adaptation can be main-streamed into development policy. Individual ministries and agencies have also developed their respective mission documents and policies for addressing climate change. It is hoped that the National Climate Change Strategy reported to be in the making shall be soon ready for its implementation.

Earlier our Constitution of India didn’t contain any specific provisions regarding the environment. But there were certain provisions related to the organisation of agricultural and animal husbandry, improvement in public health, protection of national monuments etc. which shows a connection to the environment.  The Constitution of India under Article 47 states that it is the primary duty of a state to raise the nutrition level, the standard of people living in it and the improvement of public health. It is evident from it that protection and improvement of the environment are included in the improvement of public health because without protecting the environment, public health cannot be assured.  

After the 42nd Amendment to the Constitution of India, the words ecology and environment were added to it under Article 48A and Article 51A(g) for the first time. It was a good step taken by the government to add the duties of the citizens and environmental protection rights to the constitution. In part IV of Constitution, Article 49A was added, which means directive principles of state policy. Under this, the state has given a right under the constitution to protect the environment and to improve it and to safeguard the forest and wildlife of the country.

Various legislations have been incorporated to combat the menace of climate change. India has very detailed legal and institutional structure mechanisms for responding to enormous environmental threats in the region. India is one of the largest developing countries to the degree that special clauses have been included in the Constitution for the protection of the environment. Indian Network for Climate Change has also been established by the government to deal with the problem. It incorporates its goals and the steps it will take to achieve sustainable development. Overall, India is taking effective measures to curb the menace of climate change in India. 

The session is all about how the environmental laws are formed in India to deal with climate change and also the contribution of the judiciary to it. 

2. Why The Topic

The Vedic wisdom manifests a philosophy of law and human governance based upon the idea of the peaceful co-existence of the community. The welfare of each element of our eco-system is the welfare of each member of the community and ultimately, the survival of each of us and of the earth is dependent upon it.

The earth's climate is dynamic and always changing through a natural cycle. What the world is more worried about today is that the changes that are occurring today have been speeded up. These changes may be caused by natural processes, for example, continental drift, volcanoes, ocean currents, the earth's tilt, and comets and meteorites, as also those which are based on human activities or created by man. It is now well documented that in global warming happening today, human activities contribute maximum to its causes.

Climate Change presents to society as a whole a wide range of threats, and a narrower range of opportunities, on the political, economic, and social levels. It also poses questions and challenges for the law. These legal questions and challenges are relevant not just to the lawyers; but it affects all members of society, whether as policymakers, business people, and campaigners of all hues or individual citizens.

India is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. About half of India's population is dependent upon agriculture or other climate-sensitive sectors. About 12% of India is flood-prone while 16% is drought-prone.

India is now the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world after China and the United States. India has almost tripled its annual emission between 1990 and 2009 from less than 600 metric tons to more than 1700 metric tons. India's annual emissions of carbon oxide are projected to further increase almost 2.5 times between 2008 to 2035.

The net greenhouse gas emissions from India with land use, land-use change, and forestry in 2007 were 1727.71 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. While the energy sector constituted 8% of the net carbon dioxide emissions, the industry sector, agriculture, and waste sector constituted 22%, 17% and 3% respectively of the net carbon oxide emission.

Thus, climate change and energy are now a focus of local, state and national attention around the world. Though India earlier emphasized that it being a developing country with a historically low per capita emission rate, it is not responsible for past greenhouse gas emissions, however, India has now become a key player in international negotiations and has begun implementing a diverse portfolio of policies, nationally and within individual states, to improve energy efficiency, develop clean sources of energy and prepare for the impacts of climate change. 

3. Questions - Must Ask

1. What new legal policies should be framed to deal with Climate change affecting the environment.

2. How the climate change is affecting the economy?

3. Which bodies administer and enforce environmental law?

4. Are current Environment laws successful in dealing with climate change in India?

5. What is the role of Indian Judiciary in developing the principles for Environment?

6. What are the factors responsible for climate change?

7. What are the legislations dealing with environment in India?

8. What are the steps taken by government to deal with the climate change?

4. Introduction To The Topic

Climate Change is normally known as the variation in global and regional climates over time. It reflects changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. There are a number of factors for climate change in India which are affecting human beings, animals, plants and trees. These factors will likely impact the agriculture, ecosystem and water levels in India. The impact of climate change is affecting human beings, animals and the environment. Climate change has an adverse impact on the health of human beings such as Health effects due to food security, vector-borne diseases, other health effects, health effects of rising sea-levels, health effects of retracting glaciers, health effects of extreme weather events, extreme temperatures. Climate change will seriously affect their crops, forests, coastal regions, etc. This, in effect, will affect the achievement of its significant national growth objectives.

Environmental security and economic growth are dichotomized by industrialization. A potential solution in the context of sustainable development is conceived between the two. It aims at economic development without harming the environment or tilting the ecological balance. This is of particular concern to a developing country such as India. While the protection and conservation of the environment, along with policies regulating economic development, has become the priority of legal thought in this millennium, there are approximately two hundred laws dealing with environmental security in India, both before and after independence. 

Environmental statutes shall be regarded as ‘beneficial’ legislation enacted to promote the principles of state policy laid down in Article 48A of the Constitution of India. Being lawful, it is the court’s responsibility to pursue an interpretation that favours ecological preservation.

Indian environmental law has seen considerable development in the last over three decades. Most of the principles under which environmental law works in India today were assembled over the last over three decades. A predominant share of essence of the existing law relating to the environment has developed through careful judicial thinking in the Supreme Court and the High Courts. In the process of adjudication on the environmental matters, the Supreme Court has actually come up with the new pattern of "judge-driven implementation" of environmental administration in India. The court has played a pivotal role in interpreting those laws and has successfully isolated specific environmental law principles upon the interpretation of Indian statutes and the Constitution, combined with a liberal view towards ensuring social justice and the protection of human rights. So, when one analyses the Indian environmental law's development path, one will surely have to keep in mind the concept of judicial law making.