Introduction
The sun blazes on, the wind gushes, the oceans roar, the peaks melt, the trees die…but man carries on. As the earth yelps for help, the human turns deaf only to heed when his mind shows him a selfish reason. Is this not treason?
History serves as a remarkable testament to the existence of sensitivity to the environment since the days of yore. Systematic planning evident in the Indus Valley Civilization, the inclusion of environmental concerns in countless mantras in Vedas, stringent departmentalization of the environment for judicious utilization in Kautilya’s Arthashastra, and the Gupta patronage to environmental pursuits are all evidence of the might and power nature holds over the reasoned fallacies of humans.
As the throes of the Industrial Revolution hit the conscience of mankind, nature was subdued in the growing shadows of economic prowess and development. The pangs of widespread urbanization coupled with burgeoning factors causing pollution have led to the usurpation of nature’s status quo from a worshiped entity to a silent sufferer at the hands of its offspring. The present scenario deals with a startling call to attend to nature’s dissipating and deteriorating condition as, with the wake of each dawn, man realizes the impermanence of resources, the constraint of time, and the weeds of unprecedented development. As the world grapples to find a symbiotic solution to equipoise the teleological aspects of ecology and environment, the primary province that soars in the global skies is the ever-changing hues of the climate crisis. Against the backdrop of surmounting economic development, each country is making amends to remedy the ills inflicted on nature through various legal instruments. India too has taken galloping strides towards mitigating climate change, stabilizing an environmental economy, and imbibing the spirit of sustainable development. Through the kaleidoscope of India’s environmental legislations, policies, and treaties, the country’s judicial and jurisprudential topography of the environment is highlighted.
The Global Response
The mercurial gusts of the climate crisis are sought to be countered by legal initiatives like the Paris Agreement. The internationally acclaimed and acknowledged treaty received a nod from 196 parties at the UN COP21 on 12 December 2015. “The increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 Degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels” and strive “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels,” constitute some of the fundamental priorities set in the Agreement. Through the portals of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the signatory countries communicate approaches and actions they will adopt to mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions to accomplish the designated targets of the Paris Agreement.
India’s NDC coupled with updates mandates mass movement for ‘LIFE’- ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ as the shield from climate change. Further, it aspires to diminish the emissions intensity of its GDP by 45% by 2030. Carving a supplemental carving sink surmounting 2.5 to 3 billion tons of CO2 correspondent through surplus forests and tree cover by 2030, introducing regulatory mechanisms and nuanced initiatives to better acclimatize the areas vulnerable to protean climate changes, constructing capacities, mobilizing and allocating funds, sculpting territorial frameworks and international networks to enable speedy osmosis of state-of-the art technology in India along with a series of other collaborative and comprehensive methodologies have been incorporated by India to embolden its commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Categorically aligned, India’s NDC is an ambitious step towards the environmental milestones set for the year 2070. Under the meticulously contemplated concept of the Enhanced Transparency Frameworks (ETFs) that is to be implemented in 2024, countries will be bound to report all measures and actions incorporated and initiated by them towards global climate change mitigation. While the Agreement highlights the macro plans for the country’s environmental endeavors, the tools to enhance the micro functioning of an environmentally tilted economy are inscribed in the form of laws.
Indian Environment Legislations
The gamut of environmental legislation in India found its roots in the Stockholm Declaration of 1972. The insertion of Article 48-A and 51-A[g] in the Indian Constitution, which allotted a collective responsibility to the State as well as the citizens to strive for the protection and improvement of the environment, resulted in the genesis of an episode of effective legal instruments – The Water [Prevention and Control of Pollution] Act 1974, Environment [Protection] Act 1976, Air [Prevention and Control of Pollution] Act 1981, Forest [Conservation] Act 1980, amongst several other wide-ranging legal frameworks that sought to control the capricious winds and the treachery of global warming. While these legislations confer a significant power to the Centre in taking a multi-faceted and multifarious initiative, it is pertinent to note that the threat of climate change still looms over us, hounding breaths and overturning the scales of ecological balance.
Governmental Frameworks
Another framework to effectively navigate through the warming waters and melting peaks is the National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC). The NAPCC aims to pulverize the boulders of unprecedented climate change by adopting a lenticular approach. India, through its legislative arsenal and environmental empathy, aims for a diversified remedial and proactive perspective through the lens of enhanced use of solar energy as well as adding a competitive edge to its efficient utilization. Further, it seeks to cap increasing emissions from large industries by mandating prescribed limits, and financing for effective private-public partnerships towards the cause coupled with incentivizing, subsidizing, and certificating sincere and dedicated efforts by industries. The legislative skeleton underlying the NAPCC advocates for boosting an urban plan that boasts of energy efficiency at its core through several collaborative and complementary measures.
A 20% betterment circumscribing water use efficiency and disciplined efforts for forestalling the snow-capped Himalayas have been imbibed in the manifesto of the action plan. A statistical endeavor to affirm a generous scheme of afforestation and extend the forest cover of the country forms the spine of the plan’s fundamentals. The objective of enhancing the green cover enfolds a two-fold purpose of forming the stepping stone for sustainable agriculture characterized by weather buoyant crops and holistic agricultural adaptability.
As climate change poses a hidden danger to human health, the plan beseeches for an anticipatory and enhanced health sector. At the helm of the framework, reside responsibility, accountability, and integrity of the designated ministers and ministries to harmoniously combat the precarious planetary position that presently perimeters around the planet.
On the flip side of the coin, renewables are the driving force of the generations to come. Where Einstein’s thought of the eternal existence of energy devoid of creation or destruction points to the world of thermodynamics, the metaphysical nature of the saying seeps into the natural world effortlessly. 2030 has been earmarked as the year when India shall touch the target of 500 GW of renewable energy capacity. The enhanced unsullied gain of energy across non-grid-connected, shore side and rural areas shrouded with the added perk of diminished pollution and dwindled carbon emission makes the efforts appealing and well-formulated to answer the cacophony of an environment deprived of the ability to foster survival.
The talk surrounding renewable energy capacity certainly gossips about the carbon footprints padded all across that are so easily traceable to the actions of the man. The existence of life is equivalent to a path imprinted with carbon footprints. Decarbonizing the economy is the ulterior agenda for the Indian Carbon Credit Scheme 2023. While the entire cycle of a carbon market projects a very appealing approach on paper, the loop involved in carbon trading involves a diorama of challenges including double counting, authenticity assessment, market opacity, and greenwashing. A net-zero carbon intention brags of a system aligned with India’s climate goals and relentless pursuit towards sustainability. Carbon market initiatives also aim to sculpt technologies that prove to be synthesizers rather than antitheses of sustainable development.
Jurisprudential and Judicial Trajectory
Adhering to what Socrates considered wise and prudent, India too has had its trajectory of luminous leading judgments which has led to the widening of the scope of environmental legislation, lacquering of the subtleties in the interpretation of the responsibilities, and fixation of liability on the polluter. Through the legally expedient and environmentally empathetic ensemble of the MC Mehta cases, the country has addressed the evils of climate change ranging from the discoloration of the Taj Mahal owing to vehicular and chemical pollution, propounding the precautionary and polluter pay’s principle through the tenets of phasing out of non- CNG buses to the critical appraisal of liability for paying exemplary damages in the ‘Shriram Food and Fertilizer Case,’ and the incorporation of the ancient, global Doctrine of Public Trust as held in the noted Span Motels case. Taking into critical consideration, the lack of speedy action in the Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India, the precepts of equity, justice, and good conscience should be held in strict adherence when considering cases bearing such grave repercussions on nature and its components. Cases like the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra, Dehradun v. State of Uttar Pradesh in which the Supreme Court exercised the epistolary jurisdiction are held in admirable reverence for the stoppage of continued mining and replenishment of the forest cover in the severely denuded Mussoorie Hills. The myriad cases meticulously dealt with by the Supreme Court and the institution of the National Green Tribunal as a quasi-judicial authority for the adjudication of environmental dilemmas and disputes is indeed a commendable and complementary tool to help India battle the hostilities of a volatile global climate attitude. Through judicial interpretation action and non-negotiable adherence to the environmental concerns pursued by the directive principles of state policies, India has certainly marshaled itself sustainably in the arena of environmental power play.
Conclusion
As the prismatic scope of India’s legal response to the climate crisis is refracted into the shades and expanse of various environmental legislation, it is impervious to bear in mind that nature should not be preserved for man’s sake but it should be safeguarded for nature’s sake.
While the legislation, judicial upholding, establishment of several governmental and non-governmental organizations, and heightened individual awareness do count for a proliferating sensitivity towards the environment, the patches of global climate change are rooted deeply in the soils of the planet. Like a warrior entering the battlefield prepares himself for the harsh uncertainties spurting from the enemy, a country’s legislative strategy should consist of the bows of carefully thought-out policy frameworks shooting the arrows of planned execution. The call for concern translates into steps for sustainable development. The minds tilted towards profit should steer towards gratitude for the environment. Above all, the individual thinking for ‘I’ should start pondering over the ‘we’ and this shift in ideology should embrace the universal truth of ‘Yatha pinde, tatha brahmande.’ The earth is the locus of existence and the focus of survivability. What forms the body constitutes all that is outside the body.
From statutes to sustainability, India’s legal resilience in the labyrinth of climate crisis is a noteworthy footprint in the global domain.
By Aastha Kastiya, 3rd Year B.A. LL.B (Hons.), Faculty of Law, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara
