17. Decriminalization of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986

 17. Decriminalization of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986

The Environment (Protection) Act (EPA) was enacted in 1986 with the objective of providing protection and improvement of the environment.

The Government has amended the penal provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 as a part of Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provision) Act, 2023 for decriminalization and rationalizing offences to further enhance trust based governance for ease of living and doing business and the same have been made effective from 1st April, 2024.

The salient features of the amendments in EPA are as follows:-

Penal provision mentioned under EPA, 1986 have been completely decriminalized.

Appointment of adjudicating officer proposed for determining the penalties under EPA, 1986.

Provision made for creation and management of fund for collection as well as proper utilization of fund collected from penalty.

Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment)

Mission LiFE is a global initiative launched by India in October, 2022 aimed at fostering sustainable lifestyles through mindful and deliberate consumption to protect the environment. Following its introduction at COP-26 in Glasgow in 2021, Mission LiFE encourages individuals and communities to adopt eco-friendly behaviours. The initiative focuses on seven core themes: saving water, conserving energy, reducing waste, managing e-waste, eliminating single-use plastics, promoting sustainable food systems, and adopting healthy lifestyles. Mission LiFE has been included, as a non-quantifiable indicators under Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

UNEA Resolution: The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), at its Sixth Session held in Nairobi, Kenya, on 1st March, 2024, unanimously adopted the resolution on sustainable lifestyles. The resolution based on the precepts of Mission LiFE was moved by India and co- sponsored by Sri Lanka and Bolivia and is a significant step forward in the globalisation of the concept of Mission LiFE or Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE).

India’s membership on 10 Year Framework Programme (10YFP)

India secured a position as Board Member on the Board of 10-Year Framework of Programmes for sustainable consumption and production patterns, which is a global acknowledgement of India’s leadership and efforts towards promoting sustainable lifestyles. The 10YFP is part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as reflected in Sustainable Development Goal 12 on "Responsible Consumption and Production”, which serves as a framework of reference for decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation.

3rd Voice of Global South Summit

India hosted the 3rd Voice of Global South Summit on 17th August, 2024 with the overarching theme "An Empowered Global South for a Sustainable Future”.

India emphasized the countries of the Global South to unite, stand together with one voice and become one another's strength. In the Environment Ministers’ Session, 18 countries and 1 bank from Global South participated. India emphasized the importance of encouraging sustainable consumption and production patterns, promoting sustainable lifestyles, reducing waste, and fostering a culture of conservation and respect for natural resources. The deliberations highlighted the call for climate justice and developing countries’ demand for climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building.

The participants also reaffirmed the principles of equity and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC).

21. First-ever Ganges River Dolphin Tagging

First-ever Ganges River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica) was tagged in Assam. This initiative was implemented by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in collaboration with the Assam Forest Department and Aaranyak, with funding from the National CAMPA Authority. This is the first tagging, not only in India, but also for the species, and this milestone is a significant advancement of Project Dolphin, under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi.

Forest and Tree Cover Growth:

As per the latest India State of Forest Report ISFR), 2023 of Forest Survey of India, released on 21.12.2024, key achievements of the country in terms of Environment and Forest Conservation are as under:

The Forest and Tree cover of the country is 8,27,357 sq km which is 25.17 percent of the geographical area of the country, consisting of 7,15,343 sq km (21.76%) as forest cover and 1,12,014 sq km (3.41%) as tree cover.

As compared to assessment of 2021, there is an increase of 1445 sq km in the forest and tree cover of the country which includes 156 sq km increase in the forest cover and 1289 sq km increase in tree cover.

19 states/UTs have above 33 percent of the geographical area under forest cover. Out of these, eight states/UTs namely Mizoram, Lakshadweep, A & N Island, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Manipur have forest cover above 75 percent.

The total growing stock of India’s forest and trees outside forests is estimated as 6430 million cum, of which 4479 million cum is inside the forests and 1951 million cum outside the forest area. There is an increase of 262 million cum of total growing stock as compared to the previous assessment which includes an increase of 91 million cum inside the forest and 171 million cum outside the forest area.

The extent of bamboo bearing area for the country has been estimated as 1,54,670 sq km. As compared to the last assessment done in 2021 there is an increase of 5,227 sq km in bamboo area.

The total annual potential production of timber from trees outside forest has been estimated as 91.51 million cum.

In the present assessment, total carbon stock in country’s forest is estimated to be 7,285.5 million tonnes. There is an increase of 81.5 million tonnes in the carbon stock of country as compared to the last assessment.

Regarding status on achievement of target under NDC related to carbon sequestration, the current assessment shows that India’s carbon stock has reached 30.43 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent; which indicates that as compared to the base year of 2005, India has already reached 2.29 billion tonnes of additional carbon sink as against the target of 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes by 2030.

*****