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MAJOR DECISIONS AND INITIATIVES
ENVIRONMENT
&
FORESTS
The UPA Government completes one year on May 21, 2005. During this period, the Government has taken several important initiatives. Some of these are being brought out in the series ‘Major Decisions and Initiatives’.
The National Common Minimum Programme of the Government accords high priority to reconciliation of rapid economic growth with environmental conservation. In pursuance of this objective, the Ministry of Environment & Forests has taken many important policy initiatives such as release of draft National Environment Policy, finalization of a set of guidelines covering animal welfare and experimentation, adoption of “good practices”, and re-engineering of regulatory procedures including environmental and forestry clearance, Environmental Clearance, Genetic Engineering, and Coastal Zone Regulation.
National Environment Policy
The draft National Environment Policy (NEP) has been formulated and was made available for public comments. The NEP is intended to be a guide to environment protection through out the country to reconcile the objectives of environmental protection and development, taking care of the poor, particularly livelihoods of the poor.
Further reforms have been initiated in grant of environmental clearances, which include delegation of more responsibilities to the State Governments for granting environmental clearances in regard to certain categories of the projects and introduction of a system of accreditation for consultants and experts to prepare environmental impact assessment.
Procedures for environmental regulations have been simplified and made transparent by adoption of "good practices" in regulatory procedures such as environmental clearance, forestry clearance, Coastal Zone Regulation, Genetic Engineering Approval Committee and experimentation on animals.
A set of guidelines has been framed, which covers the utilization and care of animals to be used in testing, research and training, taking into account the ethical concerns raised by NGOs and numerous impediments to the conduct of medical research encountered by the scientists.
To protect the rights of the genuine tribals and forest dwellers on forest lands, the State and UT Governments have been requested not to resort to eviction of tribals and forest dwellers other than ineligible encroachers till the complete verification is done for the recognition of such people.
Approval given to the State and UT Governments to proceed with strictly need based diversion of forest land below one hectare in each case in favour of Government Departments for providing basic developmental facilities for tribals and other dwellers of forest fringe villages.
Action plan prepared to address the natural ecological phenomenon of gregarious flowering of muli bamboos, having high social and economic implications in the Northeast. The proposed allocation by the Government of India is Rs. 105 crore to address this natural ecological phenomenon.
Milestone Achievements
A significant milestone for India towards its endeavour in protecting the Ozone Layer is the phasing out of the production of ozone-depleting Halons, while ensuring that Indian industry does not get adversely affected and consumer interests are protected. India is currently number one in terms of the number of projects accorded the host country approval and under consideration by the CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) Executive Board, as per the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol. As a result of the opportunities unlocked by the CDM, the Indian private sector is fast emerging as the largest potential supplier of CERs (Certified Emission Reductions) in the world.
The meeting of the Like Minded Megadiverse Countries (LMMCs), seventeen countries rich in biological diversity and associated traditional knowledge, was hosted by India in January 2005, in its capacity as the President of the Group. The meeting helped in evolving a common position for developing an international regime on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) and resulted in finalization and adoption of the New Delhi Ministerial Declaration on Access and Benefit Sharing.
RK:LV
PIB SF-15 (11.5.2005)
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