INTRODUCTION
We live in a world where development is taking place at a very fast pace. Each day we wake up with news of a new invention in some or the other field around the world. It sounds great and enthralling that we have advancement at a pace no one would have ever imagined. However, this comes with a price. Our mother earth is the one that is experiencing the repercussions of development and technological advancement that is taking place all around the world. The ever-expanding and onerous industries and companies in this developmental era, are releasing millions and tons of harmful gases like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, etc. not suitable for our environment and earth, thereby leading to scenarios wherein our earth is in an arduous position of surviving.
What is climate change?
When any place witnesses a shift in its typical weather, it is referred to as climate change. “This could be either due to a change in the amount of rain that a location receives yearly or it could also be a variation or a shift in the normal temperature of a place over the course of a month or season.”
When the Earth witnesses a change in its climate, it is also referred to as Climate Change. This mainly happens because of a shift in the normal temperature experienced by the Earth or also due to a shift in where rain and snow falls on various places on the surface of Earth.
CLIMATE CHANGE REGULATION
“The service that governs processes such as greenhouse effect, air quality, temperature, ozone layer, etc. at both global and local levels, is known as Climate Regulation.” In terms of global Green House Gas management, this might include ecosystems’ ability to both emit and absorb pollutants.
INDIAN LAWS
In terms of emissions, after China and the United States, India is presently the world’s third greatest emitter of greenhouse gases. India is also termed as one of the countries which is most vulnerable to climate change. It is responsible for producing 4.5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases, making it a critical player in the fight against climate change. And, given the dangers of flooding and extreme heat, perhaps no country has a stronger motive to mitigate climate change’s effects.
There were several environmental laws existing in India even before its independence, i.e., before the year 1947. However, it was only until the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1992 that the genuine incentive for building a well-developed framework to decrease the ramifications of dangerous gases emerged. The National Council for Environmental Policy and Planning, which is part of the Department of Science and Technology, was formed in 1972 as a result of this. Later, in 1985, the Council was renamed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), which is currently the country’s highest administrative agency for environmental regulation and protection. Some of the laws present and working in India since its Independence are as follows:
• The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
• Motor Vehicles Act,1988.
• Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
• Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
• Atomic Energy Act of 1982
• Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (EPA)
• The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
After the Stockholm Conference in 1976, in India, the Constitution 42nd Amendment Act integrated environmental concerns into the Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Rights and Duties and granted them constitutional validity.
Amongst these, recently during “the COP 26 meeting in Glasgow, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also showed his concern towards the burgeoning climate change problem and also committed that by 2070, India will achieve its net-zero carbon emission.”
EUROPEAN LAWS
The European Council held in Paris in 1972, marks the beginning of the European environment policy when the Heads of State or Government acknowledged the necessity for a Community environment strategy to complement economic expansion and called for an action plan. A new ‘Environmental Title’ was established by the Single European Act of 1987 which served as the first legislative foundation for a single environmental policy aimed at conserving environmental quality, assuring reasoned use of natural resources, and protecting human health.
The EU’s environmental policy is based on the principles of pollution prevention, reduction, and correction at the source, as well as the ‘polluter pays’ premise. The precautionary principle can be employed as a risk management method when there is scientific uncertainty about a potential harm to human health or the environment coming from a specific activity or policy.
CONCLUSION
Even the slightest of climate change is having its discernible effects around us. The oceans are getting warmer and the sea level is rising constantly. “Glaciers are shrinking, the melting of ice on lakes and rivers is taking place earlier than usual.” Global climate change is having the effects now, that the experts expected it would have in the past. “The richness of life in our world is threatened by climate change, from humans all around the world to polar bears in the Arctic and also to the sea turtles off the coast of Africa.”
Regulatory bodies all around the world are making policies and committing themselves to different timelines relating to the regulation of climate change. It is encouraging and enthralling to see we have a myriad of regulating bodies, conventions, and agreements like World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF), the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCC), the Paris Agreement, Kyoto Protocol, to name a few. However, merely regulatory bodies and conventions would not suffice unless the policies and actions are taken more stringently.
A wide range of effects on human life and health is also caused because of Climate change. It risks the foundations of human health. Even the slightest of climate change causes its consequences on safe drinking water, nutritious food, clean air, and secured shelter for human beings. It also has the potential to reverse decades of global health progress thereby deteriorating human health from bad to worst. Therefore, in order to survive and continue the existence of human life on this planet, we should take the climate change problem earnestly and should strive to rectify it before it shows its deadliest face.
