Environmental Governance

Environmental governance refers to the entire set of laws, customs, and organisations that are involved in managing the environment in all of its aspects.

• The laws, processes, policies, practices, and institutions that affect how humans interact with their environment are referred to as environmental governance. Environmental governance considers the duties of all parties who have an impact on the environment.
• Environmental resources play a crucial role in economic advancement and the improvement of society’s quality of life, and strong environmental governance is a key component in achieving these goals. Developmental activities are putting a strain on the environment’s resources. The consumption of natural resources, such as water, air, land, and biota, in the production process of economic activity, as well as the discharges from it and the improvement of quality of life, must take into account the finite resource base, human rights, legal framework, and the consequences of one’s actions.
• Both environmental governance and good governance should ideally lead to sustainable development; however, good environmental governance should reflect sustainable quality of life improvement not only from the perspective of human/ community needs, but also from a larger societal perspective, while keeping in mind the finite resource base and the consequences of actions within and between generations (Pearce 1992).
• Given the similar goal of sustainable development, it can be asserted that strong governance principles can also lead to effective environmental governance. Laws, policies, implementation methods, institutions, equity, gender sensitivity, national and international conventions, democratic procedures, participatory decision-making, and tolerance for diversity are all part of the common objective of society’s long-term development.

History of Environmental Governance in India:

• When then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi returned from the United Nations Conference on Human, Environment, and Development in Stockholm in 1972, it was 25 years after Independence that environmental governance began.
• The Prime Minister established the National Environmental Planning and Coordination Committee, which is chaired by B P Pal (FRS). The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) was created in 1972, followed by state pollution control bodies. On November 1, 1980, the Department of the Environment was established, followed by several state departments. Water laws were enacted in 1974, air laws in 1981, and forest conservation laws in 1981, as well as the umbrella Environment Protection Act of 1986.
• In the same year as the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, an Environment Policy and Strategy Statement was released. A 1992 notification made environmental impact assessments mandatory for 32 industries. For each sectoral evaluation, environmental approval committees were formed, and the Centre was given complete authority.
• With a series of subsequent regulatory notices on coastal zone management, hill development, and garbage disposal, India became a nation to follow the environmental governance system in 1996. (biomedical, plastic, hazardous). The Supreme Court and upper courts dispensed justice through Public Interest Litigation.

Need for Environmental Governance:

• India’s ecosystem is in bad shape: three out of every five monitored rivers in the country are severely polluted. Even in wealthier areas of the country, such as Maharashtra, 90 percent of solid trash is not handled, whereas Delhi has 48 percent.
• Rising pollution levels: Approximately 3/4 of India’s population lives in locations where air pollution (PM2.5) levels exceed Indian national guidelines, which are four times higher than global standards. Indeed, 72 of the 640 districts in the northern region have emissions that are more than ten times higher than global guidelines. India was placed 177th out of 180 countries in the recent Global Environmental Quality Performance Index.

• Health effects: According to the State of Global Air 2020, long-term exposure to outdoor and domestic air pollution contributed to about 1.67 million yearly fatalities in India in 2019 due to stroke, heart attack, diabetes, lung cancer, chronic lung illnesses, and neonatal disorders. According to a WHO report, air pollution is responsible for 10% of children dying before reaching the age of five.

• Impact on vulnerable groups: The impoverished are the ones that suffer the most as a result of environmental damage. A degraded environment has an impact on the livelihoods of fishers, farmers, and forest people, and the poor are significantly less equipped to protect themselves against unclean water and air than the wealthy. Pollution exacerbates the effects of poverty.

• Environmental degradation’s economic impact: A degraded environment has a detrimental influence on the economy: pollution increases public health burdens; degraded habitats are unable to perform ecosystem services such as waste filtration and storm buffering; and degraded resources have an impact on the poor’s livelihoods. Furthermore, as we move toward a knowledge economy, high-skilled workers will refuse to reside in polluted cities.

Environmental difficulties and challenges may be handled at the national or municipal level, but some of these issues may have an impact on multiple nations, necessitating regional or international agreements and initiatives.