THE BHOPAL CASE: Union Carbide Corporation v. Union Of India[viii]. Although more expensive and less effective than protecting resources in the first place, restoration may sometimes be the only choice left. In the ‘Atharva Veda’, the ancient Hindu Scepters stated “What of thee I dig out let that quickly grow over”. In Narmada Bachao Andolan v. Union of India and Ors., the Supreme Court of India upheld that “Water is the basic need for the survival of human beings and is part of the right to life and human rights as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of India … and the right to healthy environment and to sustainable development are fundamental human rights implicit in the right to life[xxi]. No single institution legislates or manages international environmental problems. For example, the Kyoto Protocol under the climate change regime now requires a reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions in industrial countries, which may in turn create a massive new market for renewable and efficient energy technologies. Democratizing International Environmental Law. The World commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in its report prominently known as the ‘Brundtland Report’ named after the Chairman of the Commission Ms. GH  Brundtland highlights the concept of sustainable development. This was clearly designed to achieve the level of health protection chosen by France and the value pursued by the measure was found to be “both vital and important in the highest degree”. Convention on Climate Change Over 150 states signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in June 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, recognizing climate change as “a common concern of humankind.” The convention aimed to reduce emission levels of greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by the year 2000 but failed to set binding goals. The Montreal Protocol, widely viewed as the model for all international environmental treaties, effectively banned the production and use of most ozone-depleting substances. However, America’s disproportionate responsibility for many global environmental threats and its vulnerability to liability claims also help explain U.S. opposition. Among other things, these structural adjustment policies (SAPs) significantly increase the rate of forest harvesting, mining, and fishery harvests. On the other hand, if heavy polluting countries move to countries with weaker environmental regulation and supervision, lower trade … The United States should also provide fair and equal judicial access to foreign citizens and communities harmed by environmental damage caused by U.S. corporate activities. Yet whatever mix of these approaches is used to nudge the global economy toward more sustainable development, it will have little chance of success until the United States takes a leadership role in pursuing global environmental protection above unbridled economic growth. Editor’s Note: In recent years, there has been a sustained focus on the role played by the higher judiciary in devising and monitoring the implementation of measures for pollution control, conservation of forests and wildlife protection. For example, the United States is one of the few remaining countries still opposing the precautionary principle (which holds that a lack of scientific certainty should not be used to prevent cost-effective action to address potentially irreversible environmental threats). This general issue is highlighted by the way in which these institutions relate to the multilateral environmental agreements (for example, the climate change regime or the Montreal Protocol with respect to ozone depletion). The United States signed the protocol on September 16, 1987, and ratified it on April 21, 1988. Emphasizing Environmental Restoration. is that they have been given narrow mandates, small budgets and limited support. Such lending should be earmarked for shifting societies to appropriate, nonpolluting technologies and not simply for improving the efficiencies of fundamentally unsustainable technologies, such as coal-fired power plants or nuclear reactors. To avoid repeating the same battles with each regulatory body, governments should negotiate one international “administrative procedures” treaty covering all the relevant institutions. The U.S. approach to environmental regulation requires that there be proven environmental damage before control measures are taken. As of June 1994, 136 states, including virtually all major industrialized countries and most developing countries, had become parties to the protocol. Nowadays nonstate actors—for example, transnational corporations and NGOs—gather their own information, make their own alliances, and expect to participate fully in international affairs. The United States signed the treaty on June 12, 1992, ratified it on October 15, 1992, and entered it into force in the United States on March 21, 1994. Despite occasional promises to the contrary, free trade has become the paramount value driving most U.S. international relations under the Clinton administration. With world population expected to double in the next 50 years and with water consumption historically increasing at twice the rate of population, our global water situation is bleak. All rights reserved. The U.S. has often opposed international liability in these contexts, ostensibly out of concern that minimum levels of due process and fairness may be hard to ensure in international forums. It has become the centerpiece of international efforts to conserve the planet’s biological diversity, ensure the sustainable use of biological resources, protect ecosystems and natural habitats, and promote the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources. Developing a Binding Framework of Environmental Principles. The black ebony staves of judiciary which has thumped time and again for protection of man miniature against excruciating blows of evil is known on the aspiration for protecting environment. Environmental damage is often worse in countries and in areas where human rights abuses are greatest, particularly where outside forces are driving the exploitation of valuable natural resources—for example, gold or oil—over the objections of local communities. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements create an international trade legal framework for 164 economies around the world. Greening International Trade. To make matters worse, large structural adjustment loan packages heap additional debt onto already heavily indebted countries. Intuitively, people support the fundamental human right to enjoy minimum amounts of air and water free of contamination; to grow crops in a stable climate system on land protected from harmful ultraviolet radiation; in short, to live and raise their children in an environment conducive to human life and health. Instead, the United States emphasized the need to conserve the world’s forests and offered what was considered a small, $150-million aid package to protect forests in developing countries. The judgment of the Supreme Court in instant case is a land mark in the history of judicial activism in upholding the social justice component of the rule of law by fixing liability on statutory authorities to discharge their legal obligation to the people in abating public nuisance and making the environmental pollution free even if there is a budgetary constraints., J. Krishna Iyer observed that,” social justice is due to and therefore the people must be able to trigger off the jurisdiction vested for their benefit to any public functioning.”Thus he recognized PIL as a Constitutional obligation of the courts. Even where liability issues have been generally acknowledged in international law—e.g., concerning damage caused by transboundary shipments of hazardous wastes—the parties have been deadlocked in trying to operationalize the concept of liability. Thanks for this article..Excellent one very informative.. kudos….. ಈ ಲೇಖನದಿಂದ ತುಂಬಾ ಉಪಯುಕ್ತವಾಗಿದೆ ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು. Climate change may be the single most significant environmental issue of the next few decades. Binding environmental principles could help to achieve more balanced integration between environmental protection and other social goals like trade. [xxiii] M.V Ranga Rao, ROLE OF JUDICIARY IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION,p.9, vol.3, Supreme Court Journal, September- December, (2001). The concept of ecological protection and preservation is not new. The IFIs have yet to prohibit funding projects that exacerbate the very same problems that these global environmental regimes are meant to address. But the United States must take a much greater leadership role in prodding the World Bank and the IMF to make broader and deeper cuts in developing country debt. Balancing Investment Rights with Privileges. Although this may in some cases lead to reduced environmental protection, ensuring that local people benefit from natural resource exploitation is not only fair but, in the long run, will likely lead to more sustainable development. Balakrishnan, THE ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN D. P SHRIVASTAVA MEMORIAL LECTURE, p. 1, March 20,2010. Many of these judicial interventions have been triggered by the persistent incoherence in policy-making as well as the lack of capacity-building amongst the executive agencies. The word “environment” relates to surroundings. Lodha, ENVIRONMENTAL RUIN: THE CRISES OF SURVIVAL, P.364 .New Delhi: Indus Publishing, [v] Available at envfor.nic.in/legis/env/env1.html. Thus, after analyzing all the above definitions, the basic idea that can be concluded is that environment means the surroundings in which we live and is essential for our life. Adoption of “free trade” in investment capital would mean that companies would enjoy all of the benefits of free capital flow and repatriation of profits while accepting none of the environmental and social responsibility inherent in the goal of sustainable development. Instead of pursuing a binding covenant, the United States seems intent on weakening some of the key proposed principles. Washington stands virtually alone in rejecting the precautionary principle—a guideline with significant implications for many global environmental issues. Municipal Corporation Hyderabad. READ PAPER. Imposing Liability and Providing Compensation. In fact, it may be exactly those fears of negotiating on a level playing field that drives U.S. opposition to a covenant rather than a fear that the resulting principles would be too weak. [i] MC Mehta, GROWTH OF ENVIRONMENTAL JURISPRUDENCE IN INDIA, p.71, 1999. As per Brundtland Report, Sustainable development signifies ” development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs”[xi]. In addition, Brazil, South Africa, Singapore, and New Zealand have also proposed a new, stronger UN environmental body. Download PDF. Regional fisheries management organizations are also emerging in many areas of the world and have been given potentially strong enforcement powers under recently negotiated global fisheries agreements. Moreover, some new or particularly complicated environmental issues still await international attention, compounding the policy gaps. Accordingly, the issue of environmental pollution can be checked by making mindfulness in the general population, in which media’s part is extremely critical. In the past three decades, protecting the global environment has emerged as one of the major challenges in international relations. Despite the many environmental regimes and action plans negotiated in the past quarter century, important gaps still exist in the international environmental policy framework. The fundamental right to water has evolved in India, not through legislative action but through judicial interpretation. Nor has the United States shown any leadership in promoting sound environmental policies at the WTO. There is a need for the courts to strike a balance between development and environment.
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