THE EMERGING LAW ON CLIMATE CHANGE

ABSTRACT

“The time has gone when Humankind thought it could selfishly draw on
exhaustible resources. We know now the world isn’t a commodity”1

-Francois Hollande, President, the French Republic.

As per UNDP’s Human Development Report (HDR), 2007/2008, “climate change is the
defining human development issue of our generation”2. This problem is not one which a single
nation or community is facing in isolation. Rather, the issue is global in nature which is a
consequence of the fact that the atmosphere is common to the entire mankind. Moreover, the
problem needs to be viewed in the context of growth and development in the developing
countries and how the poverty stricken in different parts of the world will be able to break the
shackles of deprivation and have adequate access to health, nutrition, education and other basic
services needed for their well-being.

Climate change concerns have been ratcheted up across the globe. It is a global challenge
which requires an ambitious global response. India and other developing countries would be
among those most seriously impacted by the consequences of Climate Change.

To better understand the risks of climate change to development, the World Bank Group
commissioned the “Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research”, some of the findings for
India include: Unusual and unprecedented spells of hot weather are expected to occur far more
frequently and cover much larger areas, under 4°C warming, the west coast and southern India
are projected to shift to new, high-temperature climatic regimes with significant impacts on
agriculture, changing rainfall patterns, in 1987 and 2002-2003, droughts affected more than
half of India’s crop area and led to a huge fall in crop production, Glaciers in the north western

1
<https://www.weforum.org/agenda/.../13-quotes-from-francois-hollande-at-davos-2015> Last Accessed September
20, 2017
2
Joshua Gans, Stephen King, Jan Libich, “Principles of Economics” Page 575.
Himalayas and in the Karakoram range - where westerly winter winds are the major source of
moisture - have remained stable or even advanced.3

It is for this reason that India, along with its G-77 members & China partners, (does not
consider itself to be a member, all official statements are issued in the name of The Group of
77 and China)4 have played an active and constructive role in the ongoing multilateral
negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, to ensure that the 2015
Conference of Parties held in Paris, delivered an ambitious, but also an equitable outcome5.

3
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2013/06/19/india-climate-change-impacts
4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_of_77
5
<pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=138685> Last Accessed September 20, 2017
 EMERGING TRENDS: AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

“It’s a collective endeavour, it’s a collective responsibility and it may not

be too late”6

-Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 1992

The UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty, adopted at the Rio Earth Summit in
May 1992. As of 2015, the UNFCCC has 197 parties including all United Nations member
states, UN non-member states Niue and the Cook Islands and the European Union.7 The
convention enjoys broad legitimacy, largely due to its nearly universal membership. 8
Objective of the Convention is to achieve stabilization of greenhouse gases (GHG)
concentration in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic
interference with the climate system.9 Such a level is to be achieved within a time frame
sufficient to allow eco-systems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food
production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a
sustainable manner.10
The UNFCCC recognizes the required necessity of developing countries for sustained
economic growth and poverty alleviation.
Article 3.1 of the UNFCCC mentions that Parties to the Convention should protect the
climate change system for the benefit of present and future generations of human kind on
the basis of equity and in accordance with their “common but differentiated
responsibilities” and respective capabilities.11
It is noted in the Preamble of the UNFCCC that the largest share of historical and current
global emissions of greenhouse gases has originated in developed countries, that per capita
emissions in developing countries are still relatively low and that the share of global
emissions originating in developing countries will grow to meet their social and
6
<www.elkeroelant.com/climate-change-at-the-world-economic-forum-2015/> Last Accessed September12,
2017
7
Status of Ratification of the Convention, UNFCCC,
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Framework_Convention_on_Climate_Change#Parties>
8
Chapter 13 in: Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the
Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
9
<https://en.wikipedia.org/United_Nations_Framework_Convention_on_Climate_Change> Last Accessed
September 12, 2017
10
Article 2 Objectives, UNFCCC.
11
Franklin Cudjoe and Bright Simons, ‘UN climate change plans and world’s poor’, The Pioneer, 9 September
2008.
development needs. The UNFCCC promotes and reviews the implementation of the
Convention through decisions taken at annually held meetings of the Conference of Parties
(COP). It also gave a “soft target” for industrialized countries (Annex I Parties) to return to
1990 levels of GHG emissions by 2000.12 All major countries, including US, EU, India,
China, have ratified the Convention.

The Kyoto Protocol, 1997

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted by the parties to the UNFCCC and is the most significant
legally binding protocol. The Protocol provides for quantified emission limitation and
reduction commitments for the developed countries, mechanisms to facilitate review of and
compliance with these targets.13 It sets out targets for GHG reductions by individual
industrialized countries during the “first commitment period”, 2008-2012, totalling 5.2 %
below their aggregate 1990 emissions.14 But the sad fact is that none of them achieved it. In
fact, 2006 was the year with highest emission so far. Between 1990- 2005, rich countries
emissions went up by 11% while the overall emissions from that growth-related energy
sector increased by 15 per cent.15

It also sets up a global market in carbon credits. These are Joint Implementation, Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM) and Emission Trading.

The CDM supports the implementation of sustainable and environment friendly

technologies in developing countries and thereby, facilitating industrialized countries in
meeting their emission reduction obligations in a cost effective manner.16

Developing Countries can participate only in CDM operational since 2000. Under CDM a
developed country would take up GHG reduction project activities in a developing country
where the cost of GHG reduction project activities is usually much lower.

As they pursue the path of development their emissions are bound to grow. On the other
hand, developed countries, owing to their historical as well as current emissions, are
expected to stabilize and reduce their emissions of GHG. The Clean Development

12
<https://pdf.wri.org/opc_chapter2.pdf> Last Accessed September 5, 2017
13
<https://bigpicture.unfccc.int/content/technology.../what-is-the-technology-mechanism.html> Last Accessed
September 5, 2017
14
Ibid.
15
Jayalaxmi K, “Time to think different and be tough with polluters” Deccan Herald dated Dec 23, 2007, p.7
16
<http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php> Last Accessed September 28, 2017.
Mechanism (CDM) is one of the flexible arrangements under the Kyoto protocol to the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) supporting the implementation of
sustainable and environment friendly technologies in developing countries and facilitating
industrialised countries in meeting their emission reduction obligations in a cost effective
manner.17 U. S. has not ratified the protocol. EU, China, India and Brazil are parties to the
protocol with non-binding commitments. Canada withdrew in 2012. Russia refused to
commit to the second phase. As of now there are a total of 192 Parties to the Kyoto
Protocol.18 Such acts of retreating from their commitments to address climate change
concerns would eventually hamper the environment to fait accompli as well as in
weakening of concerns for climate change agenda.

Bali Climate Change Conference, 2007

The UNFCCC Bali Climate Change Conference(COP13) has attracted a great deal of
attention because of the release of the Fourth Assessment Reports by the Inter-
Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently and also because of the fact that
the year 2007 was the year immediately preceding the beginning of the first commitment
period under the Kyoto Protocol, i.e., 2008-2012.19
The report states that GHG emissions have grown since pre-industrial times, with an
increase of 70 per cent between 1970 and 2004. The largest growth in global GHG
emissions during this period has come from the energy supply sector (an increase of 145
per cent). The growth in direct emissions from transport had been 120 per cent, industry 65
per cent and land use, land use change, and forestry (LULUCF) 40 per cent. 20 It also states
that climate change related exposures are likely to affect the health status of millions of
people, particularly those with low adaptive capacity, through increases in malnutrition and
consequent disorders, with implications for child growth and development; and increased
deaths, disease and injury due to heat waves, floods, storms, fires and droughts.21

17
<http://unfccc.int › Kyoto Protocol › Mechanisms> Last Accessed September 5, 2017
18
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_parties_to_the_Kyoto_Protoco> Last Accessed September 15, 2017
19
<unfccc.int › Meetings>
20
IPCC(2007): Climate Change 2007: Mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment
Report of the intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change[B.Metz, O.R. Davidson, P.R. Bosch, R. Dave,
L.A.Meyer(eds)], Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K. and New York, U.S.A
21
Ibid
The Bali Action Plan is divided into five main categories: shared vision, mitigation,
adaptation, technology and financing. The shared vision refers to a long term vision for
action on climate change, including a long-term goal for emission reductions.22
The principal outcomes of the Bali conference were, first, a process to determine the GHG
reduction commitments of industrialized countries under the Kyoto Protocol, beyond 2012
and second, the commencement of a comprehensive dialogue on long-term cooperative
action to address four major building blocks of climate change, i.e. GHG mitigation;
adaptation to climate change impacts; technology development and cooperation; and
finance.23

The dialogue on long-term cooperative action sets out differentiated approaches for
developed and developing countries in the key area of GHG mitigation. For developed
countries, while the efforts for GHG mitigation should be nationally appropriate, they
should at the same time, be comparable among these countries, and there should be
accountability for mitigation actions, in terms of monitoring, reporting, and verification. 24
For developing countries (non-Annex I), the mitigation actions are also to be nationally
appropriate, in the context of sustainable development, and supported and enabled by
technology, finance and capacity building, for which there should be accountability in
terms of monitoring, reporting, and verification. These requirements ensure that the
established fraternity between developed and developing countries entered into in 1992
under the Climate Change Convention is maintained. The precise nature of the outcomes of
the dialogue was determined in a two year negotiating time table ending in 2009, at which
time the second commitment period of Annex I countries under the Kyoto Protocol was
finalized.

Several other significant decisions reached at Bali include:25

(i) Operationalization of the Adaptation Fund to provide assistance to developing countries
to adapt to climate change.
(ii) Agreement on guidance for the further implementation and improvement of the Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM).

22
<https://unfccc.int/key_steps/bali_road_map/items/6072.php>
23
<http://www.globalissues.org/article/751/cop13-bali-climate-conference> Last Accessed October 01, 2017.
24
<www.moef.nic.in/sites/default/files/UNFCCC_final_1.pdf> Last Accessed September 15, 2017
25
<https://unfccc.int › Documents & Decisions › Decisions> Last Accessed Sept 15, 2017
(iii) Sustainable management of forests leading to conservation’, a potential approach to be
considered for compensation to reduce emissions from deforestation.

(iv) Transfer of technologies, including licenses to support the access to and transfer of low
carbon technologies, and know how. In addition, a window for setting up a “venture
capital fund” possibly located in a multilateral financial institution.

Post Bali Meetings of UNFCCC, 200826

There was general agreement that the achievement of even modest GHG reduction by
developing countries would require massive amounts of concessional funding. For obvious
reasons, developing countries wish to have such funding mechanisms governed by the
UNFCCC itself, and not placed under multilateral financial institutions such as the World
Bank and the UNDP. However, during the Bangkok meeting itself, it was announced that
major Western donors had agreed to finance a US$3 billion Climate Fund under the World
Bank.27 There are concerns that multilateral financial institutions, being largely donor-
driven, would be encouraged to bring in climate-related conditionality’s even for their
normal lending programmes.28

2015 Paris – Conference of the Parties (COP21)

On 12 December 2015, 195 countries met in Paris and agreed, by consensus, to the global
pact, the Paris Agreement, to reduce emissions as part of the method for reducing
greenhouse gas.29 According to the organizing committee of the summit in Paris, the
objective of the 2015 conference was to achieve, for the first time in over 20 years of UN

26
The first post Bali meeting at Bangkok (31 March to 4 April, 2008) of the UNFCCC comprised meetings of
the two Ad hoc Working Groups (AWGs) dealing with (a) Long Term Cooperative Action as a follow up to the
Bali Action Plan (BAP) (AWG LCA) and (b) Commitments of developed countries post 2012 under the Kyoto
12 Protocol (AWG KP), which was set up in December 2005. The other meetings were held in Bonn (June
2008) and Accra (August 2008).
27
<https://dea.gov.in/sites/default/files/Working%20paper%20Climate%20Change.pdf> Last Accessed Sept 15,
2017
28
Ibid.
29
< https://www.cop21paris.org/about/cop21> Last Accessed Sept 5, 2017
negotiations, a binding and universal agreement on climate, from all the nations of the
world.30
Each country that ratifies the agreement will be required to set a target for emission
reduction or limitation, called a "nationally determined contribution," (NDC), but the
amount will be voluntary.31
In the 12-page document, the members agreed to reduce their carbon output "as soon as
possible" and to do their best to keep global warming "to well below 2 degrees C". 32 In the
course of the debates, island states of the Pacific, the Seychelles, but also the Philippines,
their very existence threatened by sea level rise, had strongly voted for setting a goal of
1.5 °C instead of only 2 °C. France's Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, said this "ambitious
and balanced" plan was an "historic turning point" in the goal of reducing global
warming.33 However, some others criticized the fact that significant sections are "promises"
or aims and not firm commitments by the countries.
The agreement establishes a "global stocktake" which revisits the national goals to "update
and enhance" them every five years beginning 2023.34 However, no detailed timetable or
country-specific goals for emissions were incorporated into the Paris Agreement – as
opposed to the previous Kyoto Protocol.

WITHDRAWAL OF U.S. FROM PARIS CLIMATE PACT: THE NEW SHOCK TO THE WORLD

US President Donald Trump announced in June 2017 that he would withdraw the United
States from the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change. Adopted in 2015 by 195
nations, with 147 ratifying it—including the United States, which is the world’s second
largest greenhouse gas emitter35, and per another source, the ‘biggest carbon polluter in
history’.36 This news has come as a huge shock to the whole environment protectors regime.
The administration has argued that the Paris Agreement is ‘unfair’ because large polluting
countries such as India and China are not required to do anything until 2030. The voters don’t
30
"Issues and reasons behind the French offer to host the 21st Conference of the Parties on Climate Change
2015".
31
Sutter, John D.; Berlinger, Joshua (December 12, 2015). "Obama: Climate agreement 'best chance we have' to
save the planet".
32
Ibid
33
<https://www.theguardian.com ›COP 21: UN climate change conference | Paris> Last Accessed Sept 5, 2017
34
"Adoption of the Paris agreement – by the President – Draft decision -/CP.21" (PDF). UNFCCC. 12
December 2015.
35
<https://www.brookings.edu/blog/planetpolicy/2017/06/01/trumps-paris-agreement-withdrawal-what-it-
means-and-what-comes-next/> Last Accessed Oct 5, 2017
36
<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/01/climate/us-biggest-carbon-polluter-in-history-will-it-walk-
away-from-the-paris-climate-deal.html> Last Accessed Jan 20, 2018
buy this argument. Abdicating U.S. responsibility in climate change mitigation and the
coming clean energy transition is likely to make other international negotiations more
challenging, particularly with respect to trade.37

There is no doubt that President Trump's withdrawal will make it more difficult for the world
to reach the goals that it set for itself in the Paris agreement - keeping global temperature
rises well under 2C. The US contributes about 15% of global emissions of carbon, but it is
also a significant source of finance and technology for developing countries in their efforts to
fight rising temperatures.38

Many observers also say that beyond officially rejecting the Paris accord, Trump was already
in the process of effectively ending U.S. participation in it by rejecting the Obama-era Clean
Power Plan (CPP). The CPP, which sets emissions-reduction requirements for each U.S. state
but allows them flexibility in how to achieve them, was the centrepiece of President Obama’s
Paris Agreement commitment.39

The Trump administration made clear months ago that it would abandon the emissions targets
set by President Barack Obama, walk away from pledges of money to help poor countries
battle global warming, and seek to cut research budgets aimed at finding solutions to climate
change.40 This is an alarming course of action charted by a nation that clearly is one of the
biggest polluters in the world; and even more so, when the administration and the President
himself are vocal about heading in a direction that would seek to abandon climate protection
strategies already in place, potentially causing a reversal in the painstaking advancements
made in that regard so far.

INTERNATIONAL TRENDS: CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

37
<http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/submits-official-withdrawal-paris-climate-
pact170804220428029.html>
38
<http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40120770> Last Accessed Oct 5, 2017
39
<https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/consequences-leaving-paris-agreement> Last Accessed Oct 5, 2017
40
<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/01/climate/us-biggest-carbon-polluter-in-history-will-it-walk-
away-from-the-paris-climate-deal.html> Last Accessed Jan 20, 2018
 “People of conscience need to break their ties with corporations financing
the injustice of Climate Change”41

-Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emiritus

The Developed Country Perspective

Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) and some other developed
countries are of the view that since most of the additional carbon emissions will be taking
place in the developing countries, the developing countries should also accept cut in green-
house gas emissions.42 They also are of the view that in the long run, there has to be carbon
equity. The permissible carbon emission per capita has to be same for humanity across the
globe and the global community should work towards it.
For the above reasons United States and Australia originally opted out of Kyoto because of
the exemptions granted to China, India and developing countries. They also claimed, along
with some economists, that it would cost jobs and damage their countries’ economies. 43
However, Australia later signed Kyoto after a change of leadership in 2007, and the US has
recently begun working towards its own climate bill. They want developing countries to
slow their emission growth.
USA is thinking of establishing a Clean Development Fund to facilitate adoption of clean
technologies in developing countries. Some developed countries are strongly for introduction
of carbon tax.44 The Developed countries objective is to pass the economic burden of GHG
stabilization to others and retain competitive advantage in trade. They also want to gain
competitive advantage in the near-term in the energy sector. International Energy Agency
(IEA) estimates US$ 20 trillion global energy investment till 2030, of which $ 10 trillion is in
China, India and Brazil.45 There is a feeling that developed countries aim to minimize
resource transfers to developing countries for adapting to climate change, either fiscal or
sourced from carbon market.46

The Developing Country Counter

On the other hand, developing countries aim to avoid the commencement of any process
leading to uncompensated GHG constraints. They want to ensure that any apportionment of

41
<https://www.pinterest.com/pin/473300242073671596/> Last Accessed Oct 5, 2017
42
<https://www.oecd.org/environment/cc/41751042.pdf> Last Accessed Oct 6, 2017
43
<https://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/26/world/kyoto-protocol-fast-facts/index.html>
44
<https://www.carbontax.org/> Last Accessed Oct 6, 2017
45
<https://www.iea.org/publications/wei2017/> Last Accessed Oct 6, 2017
46
<https://www.ijesrr.org/publication/9/IJESRR%20V-1-4-6.pdf> Last Accessed Oct 6, 2017
GHG emissions rights is based on equity (India and China are for equal per-capita basis with
accounting for historical responsibility). They also look for realising their competitive
advantage in trade in carbon credits (via the CDM) and to realise necessary resources for
addressing adaptation to climate change.47
Today, most developing countries that decrease their poverty rates also have increased rates
of carbon emissions. In East Asia and the Pacific, the number of people living in extreme
poverty declined from 1.1 billion to 161 million between 1981 and 2011—an 85% decrease.
In this same time period, the amount of carbon dioxide per capita rose from 2.1 tons per
capita to 5.9 tons per capita—a 185% increase.48
South Asia saw similar changes during this time frame. As the number of people living in
extreme poverty decreased by 30%, the amount of carbon dioxide increased by 204%.49
Developing countries currently cannot sustain themselves without relying heavily on fossil
fuels. Global warming typically takes a back seat to feeding, housing, and employing these
countries’ citizens. Yet the weather fluctuations and consequences of climate change are
already impacting food growth in many of these countries.

The Developing Country Perspective: The Indian side

India, with 17 per cent of the world’s population, contributes only 4 per cent of the total
global greenhouse gas emissions. In terms of per capita GHG emissions it is about 23 per
cent of the global average.
India, as a developing country has reasons to be concerned about the adverse impact of
climate change on its economy. A large part of its population depends on climate sensitive
sectors for livelihoods which makes it highly vulnerable to climate change. Climate change
can have serious impact on its crops, forests, coastal regions, etc. which can in turn affect the
achievement of its important national development goals. The issue of climate change cannot
however be taken up without linking it to developmental needs such as poverty, health,
energy access and education.
In 2016, India’s CO2 emissions increased by about 4.7% to about 2.5 Gt CO2. This was
mainly due to continuing GDP growth, paired with increases in fossil fuel consumption. The

47
<http://www.earth.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/Sachs
%20Writing/1999/HIIDCAERII_DevelopingCountriesandtheControlofClimateChange_Nov1999.pdf> Last
Accessed September 25, 2017.
48
<https://futureoflife.org/2016/08/05/developing-countries-cant-afford-climate-change/>
49
Ibid
largest increases in per cent were seen in the consumption of natural gas and oil products of
9.5% and 8.6%, respectively. Coal consumption increased by 3.9% (BP, 2017).50
Looking at the 1990–2016 trends, India’s economy saw no recession in 2008, only a dent in
the growth: with average annual growth of 6.7% before and 7.5% after 2008 and a ‘low’ of
3.9% in 2008. CO2 emissions followed a similar pattern with an average annual growth of
4.7% before 2008 and 5.5% after 2009. Over the whole period the largest absolute increases
were seen in coal consumption, with oil consumption a good second. Since 2009 coal use
increased by 52%, while oil consumption increased 37%.51
The increase in CO2 emissions is related to the strong annual GDP growth of 7.1%, while the
population increased by 1.2% per year. The energy intensity of GDP has not decreased much,
but the CO2 intensity of energy has increased over time by 29% in 2016 compared to 1990
due to the fast growth of coal consumption.52
In the last five years, India increased its power production from fossil fuel, surpassing
European Union and Japan, reaching 1161 TWh in 2016, becoming the third largest fossil
power producer in the world after China and the United States.53
The power sector is the largest coal consumer in India. After expansions in coal-fired power
plants from 71 GW in 2007 to a total capacity of 212 GW in 2016, for the first time in the last
decade, the coal power capacity under development decreased last year, due to policies and
economic changes.

Around 55 per cent of India’s population still does not have access to commercial energy. 54
India’s stand as a developing country is that GHG abatement in any form involves significant
economic costs and will adversely impact GDP growth as it requires a shift from cheap fossil
fuels to costlier non-carbon energy. Efforts to address climate change adaptation and
mitigation needs should not take resources away from the core development needs and
growth objectives of the developing countries. Climate Change mitigation and poverty
reduction should be addressed simultaneously.
So, taking into consideration respective perspectives of the developed countries and
developing countries, they need to arrive at a solution where in the climate change concerns
can be addressed without hampering their growth rate.
50
“TRENDS IN GLOBAL CO2 AND TOTAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS”, 2017 Report.
51
Ibid
52
Ibid
53
Ibid
54
<http://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/publication_electronic/climate_change_2008.pdf> Last Accessed October 5,
2017.
 FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE: THE INDIAN STORY

“Ethics and Equity are at the core of the debate on Climate Change.
Debate has to move from Climate Change to Climate Justice”55

-Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, Republic of India

India has a very comprehensive framework of legal and institutional mechanisms in the
region to respond to the tremendous challenges to the environment it is facing, owing to
population growth, poverty and illiteracy augmented by urbanization and industrial
development. India is one of the leading developing country in so far as having incorporated
into its Constitution specific provisions for environmental protection, by way of Arts. 48A
and 51A, respectively.56 Case law in the subsequent years yielded numerous doctrines and
afforded some much needed clarity on pressing issue, such as the obligation upon
enforcement authorities to strictly enforce the law,57 the incapability under law of government
agencies to plead non-availability of resources58 and the policy of taking stringent action
against those who engage in activities without any regard to the environment.59

Despite the fact that India’s contributions to greenhouse gas emissions are very small, the
Government of India has taken many measures to improve the situation in this regard. 60 India
has initiated several climate-friendly measures, particularly in the area of renewable energy.
It has one of the most active renewable energy programmes besides having a dedicated
Ministry for non-conventional energy sources. Further, India had adopted the National
Environment Policy as well in the year 2006.

Abatement of Pollution 61
There is a policy for abatement of pollution, which provides multi-pronged strategies in the
form of regulations, agreements, fiscal incentives and other measures. Seventeen categories
of heavily polluting industries have been identified. They are: cement, thermal power plant,

55
<http://www.narendramodi.in/need-for-debate-shift-from-climate-change-to-climate-justice-honble-cm-3768>
56
D A Ratcliffe, “Nature Conservation: Aims, Methods, Achievements”, Proceedings of the Royal Society of
London Vol.197, 11 (1977), p.11
57
Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India & Ors 1996 SCC (3)
58
Dr. B.L. Wadhera v. Union of India and Ors 99 (2002) DLT 484
59
Pratibha Co-Operative Housing Society Ltd v. State of Maharashtra and Ors 1991 SCC (3) 341
60
The Day After Tomorrow: Impact of Climate Change on the World’s Water, Dr. Pradipto Ghosh (Terragreen,
2008)
61
Coping with Climate Change: Gautam Dutt and Fabiina Gaioli (Economic & Political Weekly, 20 Oct., 2007)
distilleries, sugar, fertiliser, integrated iron and steel, oil refineries, pulp and paper,
petrochemicals, pesticides, tanneries, basic drugs and pharmaceuticals, dye and dye
intermediates, caustic soda, zinc smelter, copper smelter and aluminium smelter. Submission
of an Environmental Statement by polluting units seeking consent either under the Water
(Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 or the Air (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act, 1981 or both and the authorisation under the Hazardous Wastes (Management
and Handling) Rules, 1989 has been made mandatory under the Environment (Protection)
Act, 1986, and defaulters have had stringent action taken against them.62

Ozone Cell
As per its commitment to implement the Montreal Protocol and its Ozone Depleting
Substances (ODS) phase out programme in India, the Ministry of Environment and Forests
has set up the Ozone Cell as a national unit to look after and to render necessary service. 63
The Ministry provides custom/excise duty exemption for ODS phase-out projects and
grants duty exemption for new investments with non-ODS technologies. The Reserve
Bank of India has issued directions to all financial institutions and commercial banks not to
finance new establishments with ODS technology, with a licensing system in place to
regulate import and export of ODS.64

Environment Impact Assessment

India has a well-devised Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Programme for

incorporating environmental concerns in development process and also in improved
decision-making. The programme of EIA was initiated with the appraisal of the various
river valley projects65 in India, which are projects designed basically for the development of
irrigation for agriculture and electricity through the construction of dams. The scope of
appraisal was subsequently enlarged to cover other sectors like industry, thermal power,
hydroelectric, nuclear mining, construction projects and infrastructure. EIA was made
mandatory since January 1994 for thirty-two categories of development activities. To
ensure transparency, the status of forest and environmental clearance has been brought out
on the official website since February 1999.66

62
Supra note 49
63
<https://www.moef.nic.in/division/montreal-protocol-ozone-cell-oc> Last Accessed September 10, 2017
64
K.R. Gupta, “Environment: Problems and Policies: (Encyclopaedia of Environment)”, Page 276
65
<https://www.moef.nic.in/report/0405/Chap-03.pdf> Last Accessed September 10, 2017
66
<https://envfor.nic.in/legis/eia/so-60(e).html> Last Accessed September 12, 2017
Initiatives taken in the Energy Sector by the Indian government:67
• Introduction of CNG for public and private transport in metropolitan areas;
• Improving quality of transportation fuels;
• Raising share of public transport, building Delhi Metro and Metro in other
cities like Bangalore;
• A major bio-diesel programme. Five per cent blending of ethanol in petrol – to
increase in the next phase;
• Increasing forest and tree cover to 25 per cent by 2007 and 33 per cent by
2012;
• Cleaner fuels for power generation. Raising thermal efficiency of coal plants;
• National programme on coal washing, in-situ coal gasification, Integrated
Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC), Coal bed and Mine-mouth methane and
Hydrogen energy;
• 50,000 MW hydropower initiatives including over 50 per cent from Run of
River Operation (ROR) projects accomplished to be by 2012.

67
<www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/.../Review%20of%20Urban%20Transport%20in> Last Accessed
September 12, 2017
 CONCLUSION

“Climate change is no longer a far-off problem. It is happening here, it is

happening now”

-Barak Obama, President, United States of America

It is important for us to stick to the principle of common but differentiated responsibility in our
negotiations and to take forward the concept of equalising per capita emissions of countries
proposed by the Prime Minister of India. At the same time, we should be tactfully showcasing
our efforts to conserve use of fossil fuels and reducing GHG emissions. We should clearly show
that India cannot be clubbed with three big polluters including China. While all possible
mitigation and adaptation measures should be considered by us, there is also a need to see that
the climate change issue is not overplayed as cautioned by UNDP. The HDR Report 2007/2008
of UNDP has also warned that “climate change will undermine international efforts to combat
poverty. Climate change is hampering efforts to deliver the MDG promise. Looking to the future,
the danger is that it may stall and then reverse progress built up over generations not just in
cutting extreme poverty but also in health, nutrition, education and other areas”. This danger
needs to be guarded against with full commitment and zeal.