Title: Climate change and sustainable development - A developing country's perspective

Biography:

Sanjeet Purohit is a Humanities and Law Graduate from Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur, one of the esteemed universities of Rajasthan, he has been practicing law at the Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur, district courts and tribunals within the State of Rajasthan since the year 2001. He started his professional career with the stalwarts of their times and now sitting judges, Hon’ble Justice Govind Mathur and Hon’ble Justice Gopal Kishan Vyas and with the senior counsel Mr. P. K. Lohra, I gained first-hand experience in different areas of law under their able guidance. In a career span of a decade, he has been dealing with matters involving constitutional law, civil laws, economic laws, human rights law and environmental laws. He is having core interest and passion for work in the area of environmental law, had written a book “Commentary on National Green Tribunal Act, 2010” and been involved in suggesting to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change as well as the Parliamentary Standing Committee regarding various amendments or policy decision to be taken in the field of environment. He is representing MoEF & CC in many cases before the National Green Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi. He is endeavoring to achieve sustainable growth in the society by striking a balance between preservation of the environment and human rights vis-à-vis the growth of liberalized economy has been one of the major initiatives taken by me along with various organizations, lawyers and other professionals.

Abstract

We live in an emblematic era. We have never been here before and if we do not come together with common purpose and an indefatigable strive to make this planet a better place to live in, it would surely not keep us long. This paper is an attempt to critically dissect India’s journey as a developing country in combating climate change with the help of sustainable development. The objective pursued herein is to identify and share replicable takeaways for developing countries which endeavour to strike a balance between their economic aspirations and obligations to posterity. The research is constricted to the examining policy decisions and steps undertaken by India in an attempt to fulfil its obligations under the Paris Agreement. It shall include a comprehensive analysis of its Biennial Update Report(s) and National Communication to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Forestry Sector. In order to understand this journey, Governance, Policy Decision and other paradigm shifts are assimilated, observed and analysed so as to bring-forth a better understanding of what has worked and why. India faces challenges in economic development, which have to be met with the limited resources available, with minimal externalities and in the presence of large uncertainty with respect to climate. One of the growing and accepted approaches to overcome this development paradox is adoption of sustainable development paradigm, which entails development that meets the need of the present without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs. On 30th June, 2008, India announced and launched its National Action Plan on Climate Change - NAPCC.  The NAPCC, guided by the principles of sustainable development aligns the environmental and economic objects. The NPACC identifies measures that promote our development objectives while also resulting in co-benefits in terms of addressing climate change. There are 8 National Missions which form the core of NAPCC.  These 8 National Missions along with their objectives are mentioned herein under: A concerted effort is made to analyse in detail exhaustively and categorically the ripple effect of these Schemes on the ground in terms of measurable improvement.  Followed by a critical evaluation as to if the steps undertaken have successfully accomplished its objectives. If yes, whether the success model can be replicated by other developing countries and if not, what can developing countries learn from India’s humble experience? A special focus is also maintained on other incidental steps undertaken to combat climate change while also discussing the most effective innovative and sustainable Governance solution that can easily be adopted by a developing country in its race to economic prosperity.