Pub. Date | : Oct, 2020 |
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Product Name | : The IUP Journal of Law Review |
Product Type | : Article |
Product Code | : IJLR11020 |
Author Name | : Mohan R Bolla |
Availability | : YES |
Subject/Domain | : Arts & Humanities |
Download Format | : PDF Format |
No. of Pages | : 23 |
Vedas, Upanishads, Smritis, etc. are evidence of the society's respect for plants, trees, earth, sky, air, water and every form of life in India. People worship trees; rivers and seas are treated as replica of God and belong to all living creatures. The Apex Court stressed the need for peoples' participation in environmental management for sustainable development. The Constitutional obligation is to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life in the country. In pursuance of the Millennium Development Goals, various schemes in India are being implemented to prevent undesirable climate change. The Judiciary, while enforcing the environmental protection laws, adopts an eco-friendly attitude, reflecting the legislative intent. But unfortunately, felling of trees without compensatory planting of saplings is going on unabated. The author stresses the need for preventing cutting of trees for development activities, including building of infrastructure, industrial development and construction of airports, etc. Construction industry and other tree cutting industries, besides paying compensation, may be required to grow plants extensively on a large scale based on real impact assessments. It is desirable that the trees may as well be displaced adopting advanced technology, or compensatory plantation shall be taken up to ensure prevention of climate changes.
The 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in 2015, provide a coherent, holistic framework for addressing these challenges and their interconnections. (...) They require member states to address the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development in a balanced manner. Their implementation must embody the principles of inclusiveness, integration and 'leaving no one behind'.