'Need effective framework to protect environment'

In the public mind, there has always been a trade-off between economic growth and environmental sustainability. But, this view is changing slowly as more and more people are reviewing their notions of what constitutes growth. In fact, the very definition of growth has been enlarged to accommodate environmental and related concerns. There is now general agreement that environment cannot be protected by perpetuating the poverty of developing countries. Their basic concern is with development and this is as it should be. But it is also no longer acceptable to take as given that a certain degree of environmental degradation and over-exploitation of natural resources in the cause of promoting growth is inevitable. It is no longer possible to treat the environment with passive disregard. And it is no longer tenable to pretend that these are concerns only for the other or wealthier nations.

In the last four years our government has formulated a national agenda for environmental protection to meet the challenges of disaster management and climate change. We have a target for greening 10 million hectares of forest land to increase incomes of the poor through a national Green India Mission. Action for generating over 20,000 Mw of solar energy by the year 2020 is underway. Our mission for enhanced energy efficiency will reduce substantially need for capacity addition. Our mission for sustainable habitat will develop standards for green buildings which we intend to make integral to our municipal laws. Our missions on sustainable agriculture and water conservation will increase productivity of dry land agriculture as well as increase efficiency of water use. All these steps will cumulatively lead us to a low carbon growth path. These are steps that we have decided to take on our own as responsible global citizens. We are not waiting for an international consensus to evolve through ongoing negotiations on global climate change.

In recent years we have also accelerated efforts to enhance our capability to manage disasters. The enactment of the Disaster Management Act in 2005 enabled the setting up of institutional mechanisms for disaster preparedness and mitigation. We have also tried to share our expertise and experience with the other countries of the world. As a signatory to the International Charter on Space and Major Charters, India extends its space capabilities to acquire data of the location of disasters anywhere on the globe and share the same with the affected country or countries on a priority basis. We also provide training in disaster management to personnel of other countries, especially those in our neighbourhood.

We believe the cause of environment cannot be furthered merely by exhortation. It also needs the strength and conviction demonstrated by concrete national legislation. We, in recognition of our commitment to this cause, have enacted a comprehensive law establishing and empowering a specialised tribunal for the settlement of a broad spectrum of environmental cases of civil nature. We have joined a handful of forward looking countries to have such a dedicated mechanism. This tribunal has started functioning and I expect it will help to reduce the workload of our courts.

We also hope to establish an independent regulator - the National Environment Appraisal and Monitoring Authority soon. This authority could lead to a complete change in the process of granting environmental clearances. Staffed by dedicated professionals, it will work on a full time basis to evolve better and more objective standards of scrutiny. I must also mention that but for the enduring wisdom of our judiciary, we would not have the bulk of what we proudly call ‘environmental jurisprudence’. The nineties witnessed remarkable changes in India. Rapid growth and industrialisation were underway as a result of the newly liberalised economy. At times like this, many nations might have chosen to bear silently the depletion of the nation’s natural resources as the cost of doing business but we did not compromise on these concerns. Our judiciary enforced laws passed by a farsighted legislature to ensure that these concerns were neither diluted nor dismissed. Our safeguards are now far more stringent and well defined than they were two decades ago. But for these to be effective they need continuous support from a strong executive and the oversight of a wise judiciary. Over all, a major challenge ahead is to put in place a legal and regulatory framework which is effective in protecting the environment but without bringing back the hated license permit raj of the pre-1991 period.

Excerpts from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s speech at the Valedictory Session of International Seminar on Global Environment and Disaster Management in New Delhi on July 24