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The Union Cabinet Minister of  Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav today remarked that waves of environmental litigation over the years have become detrimental to development. He said, “The environment will have to be protected but not at the cost of development.”

Yadav was delivering the valedictory address at the International Conference on Environmental Diversity and Environmental Jurisprudence, 2022 at Chandigarh University. The minster began his address by announcing that India has been at the forefront of implementing its international commitment given at Stockholm conference in 1972.

He said that he was a key believer in the fact that effective decision making power with regard to bio-diversity should lie with the local community. He announced that the government has undertaken the task of localising bio diversity consumption.

Speaking of India’s environmental laws and policies, Yadav said that these legislations are not just about protection and conservation but also about equity and justice. He said, “India’s environment justice is founded on the belief that the disproportionate burden for protection of environment should not fall on the people who were not responsible for it.”

Yadav noted that there cannot be any environmental justice if the people most affected by protection measures are those who are not responsible for causing pollution globally and locally.

The Minister emphasised that India’s per capita carbon emission is among the lowest in the world and therefore the western industrial nations should share the financial burden for combating climate change. Further, speaking of the adverse effects of western ideas of conservation, the minister said,  “We cannot shut ourselves to the fact that India has one of the world’s largest forest dependent communities. In our zeal to protect forests, we cannot overlook their needs.”

Coming to the issue of tussle between environmental litigation and development, Yadav said, “The environment will have to be protected but not at the cost of development.” He noted that the need of the hour is to strike a balance between development and pollution free environment.

The minister, while noting that environmental laws despite development in the recent years are still in their infancy, said that the concept of liability should be developed both at the national and international level.

The minster said that keeping in mind the issue of air pollution is a great concern especially in Delhi-NCR and adjoining states and added that for the purpose the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas was constituted. He noted that air pollution is beyond territorial and political boundaries and said that such a situation can be managed by common air pollution management policy. “Environmental jurisprudence is still focused on punishing the polluter. We need to look beyond boundaries to punish the polluters,” he said.

Lastly, highlighting that environmental pollution and degradation are serious problems, Yadav stressed the judiciary’s role in protecting the environment and redressal of these problems. The minister said that industrialisation and environmental conservation are two conflicting interests and harmonising them is a major challenge before the judiciary. He reiterated that India’s development philosophy is development without destruction.

The two-day conference is being organized to emphasize on understanding and analyzing the potentials and threats faced by bio-diversity and to attain environmental Justice through sound regulatory mechanisms. This year's theme takes on the sustainable use of bio-diversity to assist Nation's growth while maintaining eco-system wellness and environmental Justice.

The conference was inaugurated by Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu, he said “environmental regulations should not be strangulating but should act as guiding principles for the people”  Other dignitaries who attended the inaugural session included Supreme Court judges Justice Surya Kant, Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice Mohammad Rafiq, former Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal Justice Swatanter Kumar (Retd.), UN Resident Coordinator of India Mr. Shombi Sharp, Judge at National High Court of Brazil Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin and Governor of Punjab,& Administrator U.T., Chandigarh Banwarilal Purohit. 

The conference also aims to sensitizing youth, professionals, social workers, community members, and people from all walks of life about Environmental Diversity and Environmental Jurisprudence as the need of the hour.