Environmental Management in India

Overview
Indias economic growth over the past few years has raised the prospect of eliminating extensive poverty
within a generation. But this growth has been clouded by a degrading physical environment and the
growing scarcity of natural resources that are essential for sustaining further growth and eliminating
poverty. It is no coincidence that the poorest areas of the country are also the most environmentallystressed regions, with eroded soils, polluted waterways, and degraded forests. Simultaneously, rapid
growth has unleashed greater public awareness and an unprecedented demand for the sound
management of natural resources including air, water, forests, and biodiversity. Environmental
sustainability is rapidly emerging as the next major development and policy challenge for the country, and
will be central to the 12th Five Year Plan which is currently under preparation.

The Challenges
Pollution: Water, land and air contamination associated with growth are increasing exponentially. Rapid
investment in the manufacturing sector, that includes 17 highly polluting industries that are on the Central
Pollution Control Boards Red List, has fuelled this growth. The share of the most polluting sectors in
Indias exports has increased dramatically during the last decade suggesting that India could be
emerging as a net exporter of pollution-intensive commodities. These trends indicate the need for greater
investment in environmental management.
Natural Resources, Ecosystems and Biodiversity: In rural areas, poverty has become intertwined with
resource degradation - poor soils, depleted aquifers and degraded forests. To subsist, the poor are
compelled to mine and overuse these limited resources, creating a downward spiral of impoverishment
and environmental degradation. There is growing pressure to better protect Indias pockets of megabiodiversity which are increasingly recognized as being of immense significance for global biodiversity,
yet are increasingly threatened. Greater investment in the protection of these natural assets would yield a
double dividend of poverty alleviation and the improved sustainability of growth.
Coastal Zone Management: Indias coastal zone is endowed with fragile ecosystems including
mangroves, coral reefs, estuaries, lagoons, and unique marine and terrestrial wildlife, which contribute in
a significant manner to the national economy. Economic activities such as rapid urban-industrialization,
maritime transport, marine fishing, tourism, coastal and sea bed mining, offshore oil and natural gas
production, aquaculture, and the recent setting up of special economic zones have led to a significant
exploitation of these resources.In addition to the contribution of increased economic activity, coastal
development and livelihoods are under stress due to a higher incidence of severe weather events, which
have the potential to inflict irreversible damage to lives and property, for communities that are traditionally
poor and vulnerable to economic shocks.
Environmental Governance: The pace of infrastructure investments, which could reach $500 billion in
the 12th Five Year Plan, calls for integrated and coordinated decision-making systems. This is made
especially challenging by fragmented policies and multiple institutional legal and economic planning
frameworks, with often conflicting objectives and approaches.
Environmental Health: The health impacts from pollution are comparable to those caused by
malnutrition and have a significant impact on the productivity, health and the quality of life. Environmental
health challenges are largely caused by poverty-related risks associated with poor access to basic
services, such as safe drinking water and sanitation, and poor indoor air quality. The contamination of
surface waters and the spread of pathogens are promoted by the alteration of catchments and
watersheds that have accompanied rapid urbanization and intensive farming. Despite significant
improvements in rural water supply and sanitation over the past few decades, water-related diseases still
account for a large number of avoidable child deaths every year.
Climate Change: India is highly vulnerable to climate change due to a combination of; (i) high levels of
poverty, (ii) population density, (iii) high reliance on natural resources, and (iv) an environment already
under stress (for instance water resources). By mid-century, the mean annual temperature in India is
projected to increase 1.1 to 2.3 C under the moderate climate change scenario of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (A1B), with anticipated deterioration of agro-climatic

conditions. In the higher portion of that range, the loss to Indian GDP would be greater than the world
average, and could be close to 5 %. Simultaneously, there is likely to be greater variability in rainfall,
leading to higher risk of increased frequency and severity of droughts, floods and cyclones.
Reflecting the size of its economy and population, India is ranked as the sixth largest emitter of
greenhouse gas emissions in the world. However, by most measures, India would be classified as a low
carbon economy. It has: (i) a low intensity of emissions per unit of GDP ( on par with the world average);
(ii) per capita emissions that are among the lowest in the world (at about 10 percent of the developed
country average) and (iii) forest cover that has stabilized. However, Indias emissions are set to grow
substantially due to its sustained economic growth.

Government Priorities
India has made a substantial effort in attempting to address environmental challenges. It has enacted
stringent environmental legislation and has created institutions to monitor and enforce legislation. The
National Environmental Policy (NEP) recognizes the value of harnessing market forces and incentives as
part of the regulatory toolkit, and India is one of only three countries worldwide which has established a
Green Tribunal to exclusively handle environmental litigation. On environmental governance, the GOI is
contemplating the establishment of the National Appraisal and Monitoring Authority (NEAMA) to carry out
environmental appraisals.
During the current 11th Five Year Plan, the Government issued regulations to promote an integrated and
inclusive approach to coastal zone planning and the sound management of hazardous wastes, issued a
number of critical policies (e.g. revised river conservation strategy and the National Biodiversity Plan),
and established a Wildlife Crime Control Bureau to supplement existing conservation measures for
species at risk, such as tigers. In response to the threat of climate change, the Prime Ministers National
Council on Climate Change issued Indias first comprehensive National Action Plan in June 2008. In the
run-up to Copenhagen, India also volunteered its own target to reduce carbon intensity by 20 to 25
percent by 2020 against a 2005 baseline and established an Expert Group on Low Carbon Growth to
identify how best to meet this challenge.

World Bank Support

Responding to these pressures, the World Bank has developed a multi-pronged approach to address
environmental issues and mitigate its lending risks:

A Sound Program of Knowledge Products and Lending: This seeks to improve the
knowledge base for environmental solutions, and to pilot a number of programs to address key
environmental challenges.

Risk Management and Mainstreaming through Cross Support Activities: Through the
World Banks safeguard policies, a sound mechanism for decision making has been developed.
A number of tools to enable the integration of environmental management in project design, and
minimize the environmental footprint of the Banks operations have also been developed.

Country Systems and Capacity Building Initiatives help build institutional capacity, and
include the piloting of country (state) systems for managing risks of World Bank projects.

List of Active Projects

The World Bank has a growing relationship and portfolio in the environment sector. Projects under
implementation include the following.
i.

Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project ($222mn approved June 2010) to help build
the appropriate institutional arrangements, capacity and advanced knowledge systems needed
to implement the national program on integrated coastal zone management. It will also help pilot
this approach in three coastal states, Gujarat, Orissa and West Bengal, through a range of
complementary pilots in select coastal stretches to build state-level capacity.

ii.

Capacity Building for Industrial Pollution Management Project ($65mn approved June

2010) to build tangible human and technical capacity in state agencies in Andhra Pradesh and
West Bengal for undertaking environmentally sound remediation of polluted sites and to support
the development of a policy, institutional and methodological framework for the establishment of
a National Program for Rehabilitation of Polluted Sites (NPRPS).
iii.

The National Ganga River Basin Authority Project ($1bn approved in May 2011): to build
capacity of its nascent operational-level institutions, so that they can manage the long-term
Ganga clean-up and conservation program; and implement a diverse set of demonstrative
investments for reducing point-source pollution loads in a sustainable manner, at priority
locations on the Ganga.

iv.

Biodiversity Conservation and Rural Livelihoods Project (GEF/IDA $23m approved in May
2011): to develop and promote new models of conservation at the landscape scale through
enhanced capacity and institutional building for mainstreaming biodiversity conservation
outcomes.

Pipeline Projects
i.

Environmentally Sustainable Development Policy Loan in the State of Himachal

Pradesh:The proposed Development Policy Loan will seek to establish a framework for
environmental sustainability, which will promote the participation of the state public and private
sectors in the National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency, develop a policy and
institutional framework for the further development of environmentally sound hydropower
development, and enable sustainable development in a number of key sectors of the economy
including: tourism, industry, and agricultural development and horticulture.

ii.

Global Environmental Facility (GEF): Following the recent replenishment, the World Bank has
been requested to prepare a number of projects to be financed by the GEF, namely: Climate
Resilience through Community-Based Approaches in Semi-Arid Areas, Integrated Biodiversity
Hotspots and Improvements, Adaptive Management Tools in Sustainable Land Management,
and Integrated Ecological Management of the Lakshadweep Sea.

Research
i.

Energy Intensive Sectors of the India Economy: Options for Low Carbon
Development: The study looks at five sectors of the Indian economy that accounted for three
quarters of Indias CO2 emissions from energy use in 2007 power generation, energyintensive industries (like iron and steel, cement, fertilizer, refining, pulp and paper etc), road
transportation, commercial buildings and residential housing.
It presents three carbon emission scenarios, outlining the different growth paths that India could
follow from 2007 to 2031 -- the end of the Fifteenth Five Year Plan.

ii.

Sundarbans Sustainable Socio-Economic Development: The objective of the Non-Lending

Technical Assistance is to assess measures that would build resilience of the socio-economic
and biophysical system and achieve long term sustainable development. Resilient systems are
those having a capacity to adapt when faced with persistent stresses, but the adaptive capacity
of those residing in the Sundarbans has been undermined on an ongoing basis. Historic sea
level rise from deltaic subsidence, salinity intrusion, flooding and nutrient loss in local soils have
all conspired over the past century to render this one of the most hazardous areas in the Indian
sub-continent.

iii.

India 2030: Vision for an Environmentally Sustainable Future: This study deals with a
broader debate on the implications of rapid economic growth on environmental sustainability
and the need to rethink Indias current institutional arrangements in light of promoting long-term
environmentally sustainability. The primary objectives of the study are to identify environmental
challenges, opportunities and constraints to growth that will emerge in India over the next few
decades and suggest policy responses and develop strategies to harmonize the twin objectives
of growth and environmental sustainability in urban and ecologically fragile hill areas.
Updated: September 2011