Climate Change Initiatives in India

General Framework

India has not adopted an umbrella climate change legislation but continues to balance its industrial growth and responsibility to protect the environment through various legislations, and several schemes, policies and action plans.

The key legislations are:

• Environment Protection Act, 1986;
• Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974;
• Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.

Legal Developments

Emissions Control and Trading

• Introduction of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) for Particulate Matter in 2011 to combat air pollution.
• Through the scheme, companies are allocated an emission permit and cannot exceed such cap. However, companies are allowed to trade emission permits.
• Gujarat is the first Indian state to implement the ETS in the Surat industrial belt in 2019, followed by Punjab that signed a pact in 2021 to launch an ETS.

Energy Regulation

• Designated consumers are accountable under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001:
• to adhere to consumption norms and standards;
• to get an energy audit conducted; and
• to comply with energy conservation building codes.

The Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) Scheme 2012 has been introduced:

• to ensure energy conservation and efficiency; and
• to achieve a total target of 26 MTOE (Million Tonnes of Oil Equivalent) energy savings and 70 million tonnes reduction of carbon dioxide by March 2023.

Environmental Laws and Proposals

• Categorization of industrial plants into red, orange, green and white categories on the basis of emissions.
• Each industrial plant is required to comply with the emission caps fixed by the state government.
• Draft Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021, aim to prohibit the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of certain single-use plastic commodities in a phased manner.
• Draft Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2020, which exempts certain projects from conducting impact assessments and public consultations has not yet been notified due to public opposition.

Circular Economy

Schemes like ETS, PAT, the National Solar Mission and rules like the E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016, Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 and Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, aim to achieve a circular economy instead of a take-make-waste linear model.

By Majmudar & Partners, India, a Transatlantic Law International affiliated firm.   

For further information, please contact Neerav Merchant at india@transatlanticlaw.com

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