147

SUSTAINABILITY
3 AND ROLE OF
BUSINESS

• Sustainabili . . ..
Conserv atio: · Definition, Importance and Environment

• Environmental Cl
Industries i I . earance For Establishing and Operating
1400l n nd1a - E1A and Environmental Auditing, ISO

• Salient Featu ,1
Protection Ac;es 01 Water Act, Air Act and Wild Life

• Carbon Bank and Kyoto Protocol

SUSTAINABILITY

DEFINITION AND IMPORTANCE AND ENVIRONMENT

CONSERVATION
II
Sustain can mean maintain", support", or "endure". Since the
11

1980s sustainability has been used more in the sense of human

ustainability on planet Earth. Sustainability has emerged as a result
fsignificant concerns about the unintended social, environmental,
de~onomic consequences of rapid population growth, economic
owth and consumption of our natural resources. When we talk of
e:elopment, it cannot be perceived as development only for a
nvileged few who would have a high standard of living and would
erive all the benefits. Development also does not mean an increase
 148
Environ men .B .M .s . s
in th e G1'.rr. o f a few ffl tn/ fv!nnnge111e11t (5. Y ·· tJ\.t_, :p
V is u 1 · "H "'
· a u en t .
D ev el op m en t ne ec t ''J
a 12 ed nat io n s.
Only fo th. in a hseonlit g e
stic rna
, w h er e it br in gs benefits t o sauto "· ~
n ner , riot
r e p re ner at io n b
, u t aIso fo r th e fu tu re ge n
. eratio'l
The m o st
id el y quot d . . .
st ai n ab ility as a pa t
c o W u ti ~ n o f su
I e defir the Bru;dof the
n c e p t S ustaina b rn en t as g iv en by
~ tn rn is si o
0 n o f t e D e~elop N a ti o n s on M a rc h 2 0 , 198 7tlariq
h e U n it e d mee ts the , is:
S us tain a b le O ev el o p m en t th at
v ~Iopment is d of /leeds
o f th e p re se e it h o u t co m p ro mis in g th e abil it y
g e n e r a ti
su st a i
life ~~ t1~t~ is
:~s nt w
t~ me e t the
som et h in g
th
ir o
th
e ca
w
at
rr
n

y
im
n

in
ee
p
g
d
ro
ca
s.
ve
p
"
s
ac
A si m p le d efininU
"t
it y
h e quality of h on of
o f supportin gulec
t11r,

llctri
_
e li v in g w it h in 0
sy tw
s e m s" .
s th e sp ec ific at io n o f a se t of acti
ity "con cern h the prosp ons to
;.
: u s, su stainabil t w il l n o t d im in is
p e rs o n s th a ealth, util~cts of
ta k e n b y p re sen t co n su m p ti o n, w 51
enjoy le vels o f ty, 0t r~
fu tu re p e rs o n s to by p re se n t p e rs ons.
le to thos e enjoyed
w e lf a re co m p ar ab f
ai n ab le g ro w th a h d devel op
s a b o u t u nsu st
A lt h o u g h th e fear io n o n S u st ai n ab le Devel o p ;ent 51
e t a d e a r d is cu ss e U N Conferenc en
t s<
st a rt e d in 1970s, y ve l in 19 92 , in th
~
te rn at io n al le rly k no wn as ~ n
e m er ge d on a n In N C E D ), p o p u la
D ev el o p men t (U The Rio Declarati
e if
Environ m e n t a n d e Ja n er io , B ra zi l.
d a t Rio d roug h thecrearioonn
ei
Ear th Su m m it, h el a l p ar tn er sh ip th
d equitable. glob .. . . 0 u t o f its fiv
ct
aims a t" a n e w a n
11

n a m o n g st a te s.
f c o o p e ra ti o bal program 0; n
of n e w 1e v e ls o p ro p o se s a g lo
m e n ts A g e n d a 21 nomic and Political
sj g n if ic a n t a g re e en t in So ci al , E co 9
le D ev el o p m
action o n Sus tainab ,..
n te x t fo r th e 2 1 st C en tu ry .
co ir
th a t en v ir o n m e n ta l justice is as
05 p o in te d o u t logical economist
rr
A s tu d y fro m 20 v e lo p m e n t. E co
ustainable d e it h o u t a forest?" From
if
im p o rt a n t a s is s se is a sa w m il l w
e d, " wh a t u u m a n society, a
H e rm a n Daly a sk s u bs y s te m o f h 5
the ec on o my is a a in in one sector
this p e rs p e c ti v e, io sp h e re a n d a g
b sy ste m o f th e b n es te d circles figure
e
w h ic h is it s e lf a su ec ti v e le d to th e
th er. This p e rs p o n m ent1 a lso called
e
is a Joss fr o m a n o in si d e th e 'e n v ir
of 'econo m ics ' in
side 'socie ty ' e
a
stain ability.
a<; th e Three Pillars o f Su h
B
 . and Role of Business 149
1 /Ji/l1.1f
i,,,;,11 Thr ee pillars of sustainability

ars of
indicating the relationship between the "three pill
J1l
> ~ dia_grability", in which both
economy and society are constrained
f ta 111a 1 li .t
s~se11vironrnenta mi s.
r rl' . .
' 005 World Su mm it on Soc ial Development ide nti fie d
r1te ~ able development goals, such as econom
ic development,
.t i~s_taJJldevelopment and environmenta l protection. This view has
,,tJal
,t SIi" 1·11us tr
· g three overlapping ellipses
· n usin
n exp ressed as an . atio
11
e ~ - ting that the threet pill ars of sustainability are not mutually
~•d1ca b m u uallydreinforcmg . Sustam . able development
n clt1sive and can . e
n e~ . ts of balancing 1oca 1an g1obal efforts to meet basic human
,ons1 s d estroymg. or degrad'1ng the natural environment.
·e ds wit hou t
)f nee
ing that we
~ tainability is based on a simple principle: Everyth
er directly or
susd for our survival and well-being depends, eith
lity creates and
~~irectly, on our natural environment. Sustainabi
and nature can exist
is :aintains the conditions under which humans
social, economic
st in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the
m and other req uir em ent s of pre sen t and
fut ure gen era tio ns.
h the social and
Y, Sustainability interfaces with economics throug
y. Sus tainability
or ecological con seq uen ces of economic activit
tion of ecological
re economics rep res ent s: " ... a broad interpreta
~d iables and issues
economics where environmental.and ecological var
e. Social, cultural,
are basic but par t of a multidimensional perspectiv
e to be integrated
health-related and monetary / financial aspects hav
into the analysis.
 Environment l
a Management (5. Y.B.M 5 .
--- ',, SfA,
•rt•///J

Social

Environment Economic

Venn ct·1agram of sustainable development: at the confluence of

constituent parts. thret Jr
(I
Sustainability is important to making sure that we have and . C
continue to have, the water, materials, and resources to p \vi~ sl
human health and our environment. rote~ ,, I

Sustainability implies responsible and proactive decision-mak·

and innovation that minimizes negative impact and maint ~g
balance between ecological resilience, economic prosperity, poli~ins
justice and cultural vibrancy to ensure a desirable planet for:
species now and in the future. Specific types of sustainability induct
sustain~ble agriculture, sustainable architecture or ecologic;
economics.
However, the concept of sustainability is much broader than the
concepts of sustained yield of welfare, resources, or profit
margins. At present, the average per capita consumption of people
in the developing world is sustainable but population numbers are
increasing and individuals are aspiring to high-consumption
Western lifestyles. The developed world population is only
increasing slightly but consumption levels are unsustainable. The
challenge for sustainaqility is to curb .and manage Western
consumption while raising the standard of living of the developin~
world without increasing its resource use and environmental impac{ ~
This must be done by using strategies and technology that bred •I
•!
the link between, on the one hand, economic growth and on the ,1
other, environmental damage and resource depletion.
 .,·,-yfl",d Roleof Business / )/

1 ;i" '·J'IYof a sySlem depends largely upon thr Carn tn~

1
i of a system. lf
P 'flab•
· t9 1 I ·the ·Carrying Capacity
, of the sv<;tl'm 1<;
,v' llcitY b 0 ver exp oit~tion ~f _a resource, environmental
cl ed.,. Ystarts and continues till 1t reaches a point if no retu rn.
o'' t1ofl
cf ~(Ilda acity has two basic components·
JerJ . gcap .
r/Y'~ porting Capacity i.e. the capacity to regenerate.
I StlP'tJlla
.1 tive Capacity i.e. the capacitv, to tolerate different
p..sSl
e5ses,
stJ'
' attain Sustainability it is very important to utili,c the
0, 0er tobased upon the above two properties of the system.
~ 1~,otlrcesptton
. should not exceed
be
regeneration and the changes
.I
fe ,vfll be allowed to occur yond the tolerance capacity 01 t w
cor !d not
iQ potl
r1
~, s• rStefll·
1
)J

1g
l$ SUSTUWlU!Y
~ k i , _ ~10E,,.1tu n Scou
&aoncrimu~ f'lfnlll~ us
n ~t.nll6!\ ~~gtll'JI
le
tl

:e ENVIRONMENTAL L
it ,P,!!i&~ ~ •FtieecU:t f t ~
•E~.ia,~
le .~J~'.m,nn
,£,QQ,011' •CMnt,
e ·~~
.~-~~ •Hnfb11$

·~~-
ECONOMIC

•Ila~
, T(alllidfJU
\ . JtW.:W:
•:JWre1
,•·r:,;i ~~,
•.' x : t ~ &EJ"'..a't!~
-~ ! ~
·Scam.-u
 152 Enviromnemu, '"'......0 - ·· ·••.J,: St
41
While the United Nations Mille nnium Declaration ido -,,,J
· 1 t . \;;llt'1 ·
fte~
principles and treaties on Sustainable De~e opm en .' Including
Development and environmental protection ~t contin~ed usin ~l
domains: Economic, Enviro~ental_and SocialthSustainability~ t~
recently, using a systematic domain model ~t responds t~~
debates over the last decade, the Circles of Sustainability a ~
distinguished four domains of Economic, E_cological, Polittfroacl\
Cultural Sustainability. This is in accord with the United Nal 1,i\ti.q
Agenda 21, which specifies Culture as the fourth dorn:~ 01\s
Sustainable development. ltt or

ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE Foa

ESTABLISHING AND OPERATING
INDUSTRIES IN INDIA

Environmental Clearance is the permissio'd n for setting of c

.
ble impa ct erta~
on
proje cts which are going to h ave a cons1 era
ned fr the
environment. The perm ission or clearance has to be obtai
the Ministry of Environment cmd Forest, New Delhi. om

The pers on who desires to undertake any new project or th

expansion or modernization of any existing industry listed .e
Schedule I should submit an application to the secretary oft:
Ministry of Environment and Forest, ~ew Delhi. The applicati~
should be made in the Performa specified in Schedule II and has10
be acco mpa nied by a project repo rt whic h shal l include an
Envi ronm enta l Impact Assessment Repo rt or Environment~
Management Plan prepared m·accordance with the guidelines issued
by the Central Government in the Ministry of Environment and
Forest, New Delhi from time to time.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT:

Env iron men tal Imp act Asse ssme nt (EIA) is an important
management tool for ensuring optimal use of natural resources fer
sustainable developmenl, and was introduced in India initially f(J
River Valley Projects in 1978-79. The scope of the EIA has beeD
enhanced to cove r other developmental sectors such as industritS
 • tJtfli!f _.,._ • w •-. VJ UU~tnes5 'II
,.-1t1ttiil _
51• schemes, energy etc T0
f · ' · facilit ate pro·e t b3
t1''·f'liJlg·oJl o environmental dat
c0Jlectlernent plans, it is now a and forrnulatio~ ~f proponents in
t1'~aeCgtion) Act, 1986, for dif:andatory under th:nEv1r?nrnental
at I · · ·
rent categones nv1ronrn ent
(Pt. ·ties invo v1ng. investment be of develo
BctJ·~cation was i~s~e? on 27th Janu~Ond certain thresho~~e;~al
~oUMaY 1~94. This, it is hoped Wouldry/9~4 and was amend~d o~
Jtl1 the proJect pro~onents and Gove p ov1de an opportunity both
{of oncerned proJect on the environrnment to assess the impact of
tlte cplay . rnent before it actually comes
jtltO
.
cJA study document fulfills the requtrem
'1"}1e r:, • ents f
J ance from various agencies at th . or environmental
de~r tion Control Board and Cornn::tate :evel. These include State
pol u egis of Depar tment of Sc· ee o Experts working under
tne arnrnents. It is a pointer to the ;~n_ce & Technology, State
cove roject in terms of their locatio~lro~~ntal compatibility of
:cfency of resource utilisation, recycu:;:di~~o~~ technology,
was introdu ced in India in 1978 and no .
£IA w covers proJects like :
1. (a) river valleys, (b) thermal power,
. .
(c) muung , (d) rail, road, highways, bridges,

(e) atomic power, (f) industries,

(g) ports and harbours, (h) airports,

(i) new towns and 0) communication projects.

I
i
2. Those which require the approval of the Public Investment
Board/ Planning Commission/C entral Electricity Authority.
j
3. Those referred to the Ministry of Environment and forests by
other ministries.
4. Those which are sensitive and located in environ mentally
degraded areas.
f
1 5. Public Sector undertakings of the centre where the project costs
:11 is more than? 50 crores.
 154 E11uiro111nental Management (S. Y.B .M.S.: SE!vf.,
11
. . 1994 makes EIA statuto 1
A notification issued in January . ry for
categories of developmental projects under various sectors such~
industrial mining, irrigation, power, transport, touri ~
. 't· etc The EJA notification was amended in Jnnsln
commumca 10n, • f
provide for public hearing as well as or empo~enng st lo
. 7
'i' '
governments for awardin~ environmental clearance 1n respec-t'e
certain Thermal Power pro1ects. ~
The Impact Assessment Agency will prepare a set
recommendations based on technical assessment of documents Of
data, furnished by the proje~t authorities,_su~plemented by d~q
collected during visits to sites .or factories
d . if undertaken, an~~
interaction with affected population an envrronmental groups .
necessary. Summary of the reports, the recommendation anct 'hij
· · t 1 I · given
· te
conditionsI sub1·ect to wluch environmen 1· .a c earance 1s
h h
,S au
be made available subiect to the pub JC mtereS t to t e conce E
. ' C , med
parties or env1Jonmental groups on requeSt omments of the PUbll c
may be solicited, if so decided by the Im_apact ~ssess~ent Agen c e
within trurty days of receipt of proposat m ~ubhc hearings arran ~ r
for the purpose after giving thirty days notice of such hearings ig o
least two newspapers. Publte · shaJ I be provi'd ed access, subjectnat P
I
the public interest,to the summary of the reports/Environmen~ iI
Management Plans at the Headquarters of the Impact Assessmen! n
Agency. P
!E
Applications complete in every materia! ~spect are normallx cc
examined and decision conveyed to the ~pphc~nts within 30 days ai
in cases of site clearance and 120 days m case of environmental 58
clearance of projects. After a detailed scrutiny and assessment, the gE
appraisal committee makes its recommendations for approval or to
rejection of the projects. m
w
Cases rejected due to submission of insufficient or in adequate da~ au
and plans may be reviewed as and when submitted with complete
data and plans. Submission of incomplete data or plans for the D1
second time would itself be a sufficient reason the Impact co
Assessment Agency to reject the case summarily. If no commen~ pe
from the Impact Assessment Agency are received within the time ob
limit, the project would be deemed to have been approved as ne
proposed by project authorities The dearance granted shall be valid fra
for a period of 5 years for. comrnencement of the construction or
 . ,flbilifyand RoleoJBuc-.inC'si;
·I/JJ cf(III .
11
5 • tion, No construction w k --
• 1n era . f
or , pre!' . 1:n
~'1 oP e setting up o the pro·ect trninarvor oth .
l~ 10 t~ onrnental and/ or site cl~a rnay not be und ert\\.kr~~, r~lating
'Ill flvtf ranee is obt . er a en t,11 th('
7to, e ending th a1ned
on e nature of the r . .
a11 oeP rl'l 111 ended. For monitorin g P Ject, certain safe "> d
0
' cop• t d and ti . gua r s arc
t ~ ,efeguard s _sugges e ' 6 regional office rne1y implementation of
st! Pat Shillong, Bhu baneshwar Cha s _of the Ministr\' have be
et tJ ' nd 1 h - en
s d13hopal. gar ' Bangalore, Lucknow
01 t1J1
1
~ f~JRONMENT AL AUDIT:
ind ·ronrnental auditing started de .
friVI 1
;, ;1
11
O
f u,e past century in the United
· ve oping
States 0 fA
at. the begin · f 70
nmg o s
the rope. In that period the developed co me~ica and in the Western
laij £LI 1·ronrnen tal legislatio n in ord untnes were adopting the
'ed eri"sequence s o f the companies' a er to redu ce th e h
t' arm fuI
JUc conironrnent. At the beginning the eni. ions that had affected the
C}'j eri:ieWS of independent experts as;:o~menta~auditing invol\'ed
;ed re erated in line with the demands of th:sm~ w ether companies
1r op h · d . environme
a presently t e comparue s ec1de to undertake . ntal legislation .·
t b · ·rnd environmental audits
~n~ iJ1 order to
O nd
tam an epe e~~ external assessment whether th~
~nl rnanagem ent has created_eff1c1ent environ mental policv and
Provided for acceptabl . e environmental attitude. The most important
• ·
results of the environmel)tal audits are recommendations how a
lit company can reduce the damaging impacts on the environme nt in
,ys an efficient and c~st-bene_fit manner, and how it can in a long-term
.tal save funds by usmg environment friendly technology. Audit is a
:h~ general term that can reflect various types of evaluations intended
or to identify environmental compliance and management system
implemerytation gaps, along with related corrective actions. In this
way they perform an analogou s (similar) function to financial
3ta audits.
~It
h~ Definition: An environmental Audit is a management tool
1d comprising of systematic, periodic and documentary evaluation of
,~ performance of an organizations environmental aspect with an
ne objective to check whether organization is implying with all the
as necessary provisions and policies under environmental regulatory
lid frame work."
or
 Euvfro11111 e1tr(lL l VJ141"•o - ~~v, l
- · 4'
15b l eith er in form or cont ent. Typi
The re is no stan dard pro~oco ' toco ls to mee t thei r 8 cau,. l
th 1 0
com p~n ies deve !op e r :':n ~:g eme nt syst ems . Aud ,iie:ifi1
com plia nce requ irem ents an ls that can be appl ied to ~•~ f '
freq uent ly deve lop gene ral prot oco a toaq (
rang e of com panies/ oper atio ns.
Man y type s of audi t hav~ been carr ied out by com pani es (ti{~
99 '
1996, Tho mps on and The nvel , (t t).
• Com plian ce aud it-th e mos t com mon ~pe _o f aud it consistin
of ch ecks agai nst envi ronm enta l legis latio n and cornPan& y
policy;
• Issu es audi t - an eval uatio n of how a com pany '~ activ ities relate
to an envi ronmenta l issue _o_r (:.g. glob al p~ll u_hon, ener gy use
or an eval uation of a spec ific issu e (e.g. buil dings, supp lies); )

• Hea lth and safe ty aud it -· an asse ssm ent of risk s a

· d with · nq
cont inge ncy plan ning (som etim es mer ge. envi ronm ent
audi ting because of the inter conn ecte d imp acts of industn::
proc esse s and haza rds);
• Site audi t_ an audi t of a parti cula r site to exam ine actual or
pote ntial envi ronm enta l prob lems ;
• Corporate audi t - an audi t of the who le com pany and its polices
struc tures , proc edur es and prac tices ; . '

• Due dilig ence audi t - an asse ssme nt of pote ntial envi ronmental
and financial risks and liabilities carried out befo re a company
merg er or site acqu isitio n or dive stitu re (e.g. cont amin ated land
reme diati on costs);
• Acti vity or oper ation al audi t - an asse ssme nt of activities that
may cros s com pany depa rtme nts or unit s (e.g. ener gy or waste
man agem ent) and;
• Prod uct or life cycl e audi t - an anal ysis of envi ronmental
impa cts_ of a prod uct thro ugho ut all stag es of its design,
prod uction , use and disp osal, inclu ding its reus e and recycling
(crad le to grav e).
_ {]
r
•Jity and Role of Business
1 157
·~ab eil ta l au di ts sh ou ld be .
, ~ttt'
5 00 rJl l ap p~~Pnate to the particular
es . A s en vi ro nm en ta
vir 5ta nc th ng dr aw s upon various
d_
ea ch or ga ni sa ti au
~-(lctJf11d Jo gi es , on W11l . de f1ne 1·t s own system
cJf o o up , ities a
et.t't . g on its size, its activb t nd its co rp or at e cu ltu re . Th e
ry
t1' pe nd ~ st yl e of au di ts va u cornrnon sta ge s an d activiti
es
'
Je pe al l
,c,oltJde:
iflc
dit St ag e
e..a1.1
f1 Full m an ag em en t commitment;
l go al s, objectives sco d . ..
' tti ng ov er al , pe an pn on tte s;
5e
' en su re ob· . . an d pr of es si on al
l ct in g a te am to Jectiv1ty
, Se e
co m pe te nc e;

,.IJdl·t Stage t
ed an d sy ste ma tic in·
O n si te au di t, we ll de fin us g pr o oco1s or
, -
ch ec kl ist s;
co rd s;
, Re vi ew of do cu m en ts an d re
Re vi ew of policies;
•
In te rv ie w s;
•
Site in sp ec tio n;
•
tl Post-audit St ag e
J
Ev al ua tio n of fin di ng s;
.d •
en da tio ns ;
, Re po rti ng w ith re co m m
.at an; an d
;te , Pr ep ar at io n of an ac tio n pl
, Fo llo w- up .
tal en ta l auditing are:
pt,
The Be ne fit s of En vi ro nm
ing ns un de rst an d ho w to m ee t their le ga l sta tu to ry
1. O rg an is at io
re qu ire m en ts.
 . nemtH , u ... · - u -"'ll
Env1rom • J
t they are environment
158 dernonstra e ally
. t1·ons can
Organ1sa
2. l
responsib e. te their environmental Polic .
. demonstra yIs
Organisations can
3. d
. lemente . d
imp - . tal interactions of pro ucts, serv·
Understanding envrronrnen •tes
4. .
and activities. . .
. t problems and nsks to be anticipat
Enabling envrronmen a1 ed
5. and responses planned.
. that an organisation is aware of its impact up
6. Demonstrating h roviding feedback. 01)
the environment throug p
. . nmental performance more efficient resour
7. Improving enwo . ce
use and financial savings.

Environmental Auditing in Intlia:

The Supreme Audit Institution (SAi) in India is _headed by
the Comptroller and Auditor General_(CA~) of _India who is a
constitutional authority. The CAG of India derives his mandate from
Articles 148 to 151 of the Indian Constitution. The CAG's (Duties
Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 prescribes functions'
duties and powers of the CAG. While fulfilling his constitutional
obligations, the CAG examines various aspects of government
expenditure and revenues. The audit conducted by CAG is broadly
classified into Financial, Compliance and Performance Audit.
Environmental audit by SAI India is conducted within the broad
framework of compliance and performance audit.
ISO 14001:
.
An I_SO standard is one that provides international standard
requirements or gives guidance on Good Management Practise.
(a) ISO 14000

After the success of ISO 9000 .

International Standard Or se~ies_ of quality standards, the
comprehensive set of standard f gan1s_a1ton (ISO) published a
or envrronmental management. This
 '------=--. .
1-11
;,1abi1t•:J
an/ Roleof Business
• 159
1/J ,,,stfl of s tan~ard is designed to cover the whole area of
jeS tal ISsues for organiz ti •
ly ,ef ·ro.rtJl'len a ons m the global market place.
fl~ . .
e sO 14000 senes pnmarily emerged as a result of the Uruguay
fre I d of the G~TT negotiations and the Rio Summit on
t held 1n 1992 while GAIT ·
~o11t.1fl
·roflllle~ . .' concentrates on bamers to
efl the Rio Summit generated a commitment to protection of the
tr8~e~J1l1lent across the world. The new series of ISO 14000 are
eriv1r d to cover-
oesigne
Environmental Management Systems
r)
Environmental Auditing
(2)
Environmental Performance Evaluation
(3)
e Environmental Labelling
(4)
Life-eycle Assessment
(5)
( ) Environmental aspects in Product Standard.
6
The ISO 14000 standards apply to all types of organizations and are
d igned to encompass diverse geographical, cultural and social
1 c:~ditions. The ISO 14000 family addresses various aspects of
environmental management. ISO 14001 : 2004 and ISO 14004 : 2004
1

deal with Enviro~mental Management Systems {EMS). The intention

ofISO 140001: 2004 is to provide a framework for holistic, strategic
approach to the organisations environmental policies, plans anq
actions, because ISO 14001 : 2004 does not lay down levels of
environmental performance the standards can be implemented to a
wide variety of organisations, whatever their current level of
environmental maturity. However a commitment to compliance
with applicable environmental legislations and regulations is
required, along with a commitment to continual improvement for
which the EMS provides the framework.
ISO 14001 is a voluntary international standard for environmental
management systems ("EMS"). ISO 14001:2004 provides the
requirements for an EMS and ISO 14004 gives general EMS
guidelines. An EMS meeting the requirements of ISO 14001 :2004 is
amanagement tool enabling an organization of any size or type to:
160 £11viro11111ental Management (S. Y.B.M S .
. . .. Sf:i½
1. Identify and control the environmental impact of its a . 'IIJJ 5
products or services;
Cti'v'1
ti~
I ,~
2. Improve its environmental performance continually ('l
' and
3. lmplen1ent a systematic approach to setting enviro
objectives and targets, to achieving these and to demonnrne~t~1
. d
that they have been achieve .
straring (:

Organizations implementing ISO 14001 usually seek to

certification by independent Certification Bodies. Certifobt~i~ I!
indicates that the documentation, implementation and effectiicatio~
of the EMS conform to the specific requirements of ISO 1400;~ness ('

A common misco nce ption is that ISO 14001 certifi .

automatically implies legal compliance. Certification under 1s;;ho~ ('.
does not directly reflect compliance with any legal requirements, alth 4001
1SO 14001 demands the organization to evaluate its complianceou?h (:
legal requirements. If there is no compliance with some th
1
t'
requirement, ISO 14001 requires that the organization sets spe~:I
targets related to the non-compliance(s) and establishes, implern e (
and maintains programmes to achieve compl!ance. Therefore~~~
possible that, at the time of audit, the organi2;ation fulfils thlS
requirements of ISO 14001, yet there are one or more no ~
compliances with specific requirements, which are identified an~
which the organization actively works to correct. Specific guidance
on this subject is provided by the European co-operation for
Accreditation.
ln the US, permits for air emissions, wastewater discharges and other
operational as pects, many times establish the primary legal
compliance standards for companies. In these cases, auditing only
to the regulations is inadequate. However, as these permits are site
specific, standard protocols are not commercially available that
reflect every permit condition for every company/ site. Therefore,
perm it holders and the auditors they hire must identify the permit
requirements and determine the most effective way to audit against
those require ments.
 . ,abilityanrl RoleofBusin
11cff''' ess
S• 14001 : 2004 is a tool that
1cJJ can be used to . 161
Provides assurance to"" rneetintemal object·
) . •l•anag ives-
(1 organizational processes a e~,ent that it is .
nvironment. nd activities hav· in ~ontrol of the
e tng an impact on the
Assures empl oyees th
(2) env1ronmen
· ta11y responsiblat the y are wo rk·
e organisation in g for an
rn 14001 : 2004 can also be used to . ·
1:,v meet external ob' .
provides assurance on e . Jectives -
(1) stakeholders - such as custo"" nvnonm l.
enta issues to ext 1
. •uers, theco . erna
agencies. mmuruty and regulatory
comply with environmental .
(2) regulations.
support the organisational cta·
(3) . •ms and comm . .
its own envuonmental policies · urucahons about
' P1ans and actions.
4) provides a framework for de st
.
( supplier's declaration of confoO:~n ratmg conformity via
by an external stakeholder such Y~ a~es~ment o_f conformity
s
certification of conformity by an indepse : mtess cilil~en~ and for
n en cert cation body.
The ISO 14000 Series Cover

- Standard Title/ Description

-14000 Guide to Environ~ental Management Prin~iples,
Systems and Supportingtechniques.
14001 Environmental Management System -Specification with
guidance for use.
~
14010 Guidance for Environmental Auditing - General
e principle of Environmental Auditing.
1t
) 14011 Guidelines for Environmental Auditing - Audit
•/
Procedures - Part 1 : Auditing of Environmental
it
Management Systems.
5t
14012 Guidelines for Environmental Auditing -Qualification
Criteria for Environmental Auditors.
14013 / 15 Guidelines for Environmental Auditing - Audit
-
programmes, Reviews & Assessments.
 . lllJ J'

162 I Labelirt1~1gL - - ~- - - (d)

1 1020 / 23 Environmenta --- . g _ Practitioner prograni
_2±-t~~~-+~~=~t~l La be110 . d ll1e
Environ01en a . practices an certificat· ,
1402-t ·nc1ples, p toh
Guiding pn . 1 Criteria rograms. •1
. of Mult1p1ee~~=-~- - - - -
procedures . nental Performance Evaluaij
. r111.es for Environr on
14031 / 32 Gmde t General Principles & Pract· ·
14040 / 43 Life Cyc1e A55essmen - le~
'~

14050 Glossary · l
. 1 sion of Env1ronmenta aspect .
14060 Guidance for the me u s lt)
product standards.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS FOR

PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT
(D
(I) CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL PROVISION IN INl)J;\

Environment Protection - From Indian Const itution Perspective

(a) The State's res ponsibility with regard to. environmental

protection has been laid down under Article 48-A of our
Constitution, which reads as follows:

"The State shall end eavour to protect and improve the

environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the
country''.

(b) Environmental protection is a fundarnental duty of every citizen Sc

of this country under Article 51-A(g) of our Constitution which
reads as follows: 1.
.
'' It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and •
improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers
c1nd wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures."

(cl Article 21 of the Constitution is a fundamental right which reads

ai, follows:

'No person s_hnll be deprived of his life or personal libert\'

l'\C't1p l i"ltcord111g to procedure established by law."
 ·11aviii •:1 ., ~ ~'"lflt:SS

r,1 511,tnt t·cie 48-A of the Const· . 163

Ar t fS . Itution c
(d) indples o tate Pohcy anct A ti ornes under Directive
fr riles under Fundamental Durt·1es. 51
cle A(g) of the Constitution
cop•
'f}1e State's responsibility With re ..
(e) trition and the standard of I' ?ard to raising the level of
~ 1
nil Ith has been laid down Und ~ng and to improve public
~ t,e;.1ch reads as follows: "The ;tr rltcle 47 of the Consti tu lion
' w 1evel of nutrition and the tatedshall regard the raising of
the s an ard of liv· f· l
n d the improvement of public h h mg o its peop e
an
du ties and , in· particu ea1sh
· 1ar, the State t as
11 among
d its .primary
.
h
bout pro 1·b·t·1 10n of the consumpt· a en eavour to brmg
a urposes of intoxicating
• • . drinks
. and ofion druexcepthi hfor medicinal
.. .
P
to hea ·1th " gs w c are m1unous
nd
The 42nd ame ment to the Constitution was brought about
1974
(D in the year makes it _the responsibility of the State
Government to protect and improve the environment and to
safeguard the foreS ts and Wildlife of the country. The latter,
under Fundamental Dulles, makes it the fundamental duty of
every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment
including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have
compassion for living creatures.

Environmental Pollution as a subject matter of legislation did

le not find a place in the Indian law books until as late as 1974.
le Prior to that the only resource available to citizens against
pollution of any nature was under the Indian Penal Code.
n Some important acts/ laws in India are :
h
1. Water Act (1974):

d • Objectives
rs
(i) Prevention and control of water pollution and maintaining
or restoring the wholesomeness of water.
ls
(ii) Creating boards for the above purpose.

V
 LH VII V" .. . .
lb4 -"'IVJ,J//)

• Definition
f water or alteration of the Phy .
.)
(1
. aJ
. .
Contamination ° .f
b' 1 gi·cal properties o water. sic 1
a,
chemic or 10 o
(ii) Discharge of any sewage or any ?ther liquid, gaseous o
solid substance in water. Rendenng su~h water hartl1f~r
. . . to public health or to the life and health l
or 1n1unous . . of
animals/ plants/ aquatic life.

• Authorities
(i) Central Board: All app~intments are made by the Central
government and it consist of :
(a) a full time chairman,
(b) maximum of 5 central government officials,

(c) maximum of 5 state board members,

(d) maximum of 3 non-officials of agriculture, fishing or
industry,
(e) 2 representatives of _central govern ment owned
companies or corporations and
(f) a full-time secretary qualifie d in public health
engineering and having practica l experience of
environmental protection methods.
(ii) State Board : All appointments are made by the state
governm ents and consists of all the above mentioned
bodies.
• Functions of the authorities
(i) To lay down standards for quality of water in streams or
wells,

(ii) To establish or recognise laboratories to perform sample

analysis and
 . bilih;and Role of Business
ff11 ,1n
115
5 .•·) To advise, provide techn· 165
(J1 1 h · 1caI a ·
researc ' plan anct or . ss1stance and guidance a d
· gan1se t . . n
prevention and control of raining of persons for
. water pollution.
penalties
' (i) Imprisonment for a peri d
upto ~ 5,000/- or both. o extending to 3 months or a fine

(1.i) Jn cases of continuing . .

1
.
exten d mg up to t 1,000/- v10 ations
d an add'thonal
.
fine
per ay of violation.
;\ir Act (1981):
z,
Objectives
' (i) Prevention/ Control and abateme t f . .
n o air pollut1on.
(ii) Creating boards for the above purposes.

• Definitions: Prese~ce in the atmosphere of any solid, liquid or

gaseous substance 1n such concentration so t be • • •
b · as o m1unous
to hu~an emgs or other living creatures or plants or property
or environment.

Authorities : Central Board for the prevention and control of

• water pollution is also entrusted with the prevention and
control of air pollution.

1 Functions of the authorities

(i) To advise, plan and execute nation wide programmes,
provide technical assistance and guidance, carry out
investigations and research, plan and organise the training
of persons, compile and publish technical and statistical
data, prepare manuals, codes or guides for prevention,
control or abatement of air pollution.
·(ii) Lay down standards for air quality.
(iii) To es tablish or recognise laboratories for the above
purposes.
 £rivironmet1rt" ,,,... ... .,
166
• Penalties . h' h rnaY exceed to 3 months or fine
(i) Imprisonment w ic uPt~
t 10,000/- or both.
(ii) In case of continuing offences t 100/- for per day.

3. Environment Ad :
The Environment (Protection) Act 1986 als~ cal~ed as_an umbreJ~
legislation was the first comprehensive leg1slati0n with regard lo

environmental pollution.
• Objective : Protection and prevention of the environment and
matters connected with it.
• Definition: presence in the environrne~t of any solid, liquid
or gaseous substance in such _concentra~on a_s to be _injurious
to the air and land and the mter-relattonships which exists
among the three and human beings and other living creatures, '
plants, micro organisms and property-
• Authorities : The central government constitutes the authority
for the purpose of exercising powers and performing the
functions under the act. The officers are appointed by the central
government.
• functions of the authorities
(i) Plan and execute nationwide programmes, carry out and I
(
sponsor investigations and research, collection of
information, preparation of manuals, codes or guides for
prevention, control and abatement of environmental s
f
pollution. r
(ii) Lay down standards for quality of environment. F
~
(iii) Lay down standards for emission of environmental (
pollutants. r
(iv) Lay down pr_ocedures and safeguards for prevention of
accidents which may cause environmental pollution and
remedial measures for the same.
 . t,ilityana J<oteo[B ustness= = = ~ - - - - - - - - -
,tP'rtP 767
5t1-- v) Lay down procedures an
( hazardous substances· d safeguard5 for handling of
.
,,i) oernarcate areas in wh.ICh tnd .
(y
. ustnes can be
vii) Examme manufacturing processes set up.
.
( to cause environmental p II . ' materiaJs that are l'k I
o ut1on. J ey

penalties
' (i) Jrnprisonment which ma
t 1 lakh or both. y extend to 5 months or fine upto

•.) In cases of continuing offences ~ 5OO0/

( 11 · ' - per day.
er irll portan t acts enacted by the
0 ention and control of pollution _government of India for
th
P~v are .
_ the Wildlife Act (1972) :
4
he Wildlife A.ct (1972) for preservation and protectio . .
rd'versity and wildlife hab'tat A
1 · ccording to the W'ldlif p
n of b10
·
I 1972 "wildlif e" includes any . al bee I . e rotectton
Act, . arum , s, butterflies crustacea
fish and .moths; and aquatic o~ land vegetation which fo;ms part of
In accordance fwith Wildlife (Protection) Amendment
anyhabitat. ,, It ti' bo
Act, 2002 no a erna on o undaries/ National Park/ Sanctuary
shall be made by the State Govt. except on recommendation of the
National Board for Wildlife (NBWL)".
further, in terms of Supreme Court Order dated 13.11.2000 the State
Govts have to seek prior permission of Supreme Court before
· submitting the proposal for diversion of forest land in National Park
sanctuaries. Whenever, any part of Wildlife Sanctuary/National
Park is getting affected by a hydro project the forest proposal in
respect of such project is entertained by MoEF, GOI only after
permission of de-reservation / de-notification of Wildlife Sanctuary/
National Park has been accorded . After recommendation of Standing
Committee of NBWL proposal for de-reservation/ de-notification is
ratified by Hon'ble Supreme Court.
168 Environmental Management (S. Y.B.M.S.: Sf)..
'VI,lflJ
ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENTS IN I ~

ROLE OF PUBLIC OPTION IN ENVIRONM.ENl'

PROTECTION J\t
During the past twenty to thirty year~ people in various r~gions
India have formed non-violent action movements Which h Of
emerged from the Himalayan regions of India to the tropica] fo a\'e
. . res~
of Kerala and from Gujarat to Tnpura m res~onse_ to projects that
threaten to dislocate people and to affect their basic human ri h
to land, water and ecological stability of life support systems. Sog Is
of the major environmental movements 1n · Ind'1a are : °'e
1. Chipko Andolan :

The movement of hug trees -is probably the worlds most well known
grass root ecodevelopment movement. .
The genesis of the chipko movement has both an ecological and an
economic background. The Alakananda Valley in which the
movement originated was a scene of reckless deforestation resulting
in devasting flooding in July 1970. The tragic aftermath of the flood,
dawned on the minds of the people, the ecological role of the forests
which they vowed to save.
So, when one morning in March 1973 in the remote hill town of
Gopeshwar in Chamoli District, U.P., representatives of Simon
Company a sports good manufacturer in distant Allahabad arrived
at Gopeshwar to cut ten ash trees, the villagers protested'. These
was a confrontation on April 24th, 1973 at village Mandal where
about hundred villagers and Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGS-5)
workers beating drums and shouting slogans, forced the contractors
and their lumberers to retreat. Trees in another village Rampur Phata
were also saved in a similar manner.
The chipko movement reached its climax when on March 26th 1974,
27 women of Reni Village under the leadership of Gaura Devi
confronted the loggers. When aJl talking failed, the women resorted
to hugging the trees to stop them from being axed. This went on
 . bilitY unu Jw1t. v1 oustness
fµ1tlfl
,µ~ . i,t and the next day Wh
overttl!s of the movement spren the rnen of th . 169
!Pe tle ofllber of people joined ~ad to the surr e v1Uage came back
re fl
1110 contractors were forcedin. EventuaBy oundin ·1
ft g v1!ages and
,
off, the to leave ern a er a four day stand
rJl ve!Ilent well known for . Pty handed.
0
111e ce was advocated by Chandi1ts Gandhian rin . ,
~joJe~,rthef development of th Prasad Bhatt t~ c1ples of non-
111e J"" h I e movem ough
woJllen, w o a so demanded ent was greatly dthe DGSM . .
bf i..ayats. Thus, apart from its p their elections tOomFmated
paJ1° 1
. }<o rnovemen 1s
t · I 0 Pularity crests
a so one of th as being Gancth· th
ch1P
IJ1overllen t in the world e most i tan, e
. rnportant feminist

z.~save the Silent Valley M

ovement •
.
ve silent Valley Movement was a pr0 t
5af f-{ydro-Electric Power (HEP) pr . e~t against the construction
0
a OJect mKerala.
Kuntipuzha one of the major rivers or· . .
, rests of Silent Valley. In 1928 the loc1gti~ates m_the lush green
iO h R' . a on at Sairandhri on th
t1unthipuz
" . a 1ver was
d . 1958 identified as the •ct al . e
. I e site for electricity
eneration an m d adproposedfinall HEP of 120 MW andcosting~ . 17
g
crore was propose an Yin 1973 the Silent Valley H d
Electric Project (SVHEP) centred on a dams across the K thiy ro-
'd d hi h
River was d ec1 e w c would flood about 8.3 km2unof virgin puza
rainforests.
One of the major concerns related to SVHEP was the rich tropical
forests which would get submerged and whereby the endangered
lion-tailed macaque monkey found onlyin this forests in India would
also be in danger of disappearance. In 1977 the Kerala Forests
Research Institute carried out an Ecological ImpactStudy of theSilent
Valley area and proposed that the area be declared a Biosphere
Reserve.
The movement was pursued by the Kerala Sa~tra ~itya Parisha~
and joined by several prestigious organisations mcluding the Gandhi
Peace Foundation Friends of Trees, Society for Protection of Sile~t
Valley; the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and t ~
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natura
Resources (IU CN).
 Ma11ngewenr \..J· L . u.n1.v .. :,t!vf.,
£11vi ro111ne11tal . lIIJ
170 M" ·ster of India, Late (smt.) lnct·
p ·me in1 f lta,
In January 1980, the Hon. n nrnent of J(erala to st~p urther Wor
Gandhi requested the Gover ts were fully discussed. In 198ks
in the project area unt il a11 aspec
f Menon' s Report, the Hon. Pritn3
after a careful study ~f the Pr~~ndon the project and accordin t
Minister of India decided to a s declared as a National Pag?

though the boundaries of the l en

w:
on Nov. 15 1983 the Silent Vall;{ Valley Park were limited ~ '
d
no buffer zone was created.
. an w1ique example of people'
1

participation and expression n °

;5
The Silent Valley move~ ent ·ght to information as an integr:1~
~
part of right to liberty•

3. Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) :

· t · n that mobilised tribal peo l
It is a non-government orgarusa i~ . . Pe,
st nd
adivasis, farmers, environn1entah s ~ human nght activists
against the Sardar Sarovar Dam being built across the Narmada river 4
in Gujarat, lndia.
1
Post -1947 investigations regarding utilization of the Nar~ada river
C
passing through the states of Madhya Pra~esh, Gujarat and
0
Maharashtra was initiated. Due to inter-state differences regarding
tl
the distribution and sharing of the water, the Narmada Water
B
Disputes Tribunal was constituted by the Government of India. On
n
December 12th 1979, the decision given by the Tribunal was to have
~
30 major, 135 medium and 3000 small dams over the course of the (
river and the height of the dam was also to be increased. The project
is financed by the World Bank.
The proponents of the project are of the view that it will produce
1450 MW of electricity and pure drinking water to 40 million people
covering thousand of villages and towns. The opponents protests
that the proposed dam would displace more than 2,50,000 people
and a loss of rich bio diversity as thousands of acres of forest and
agricultural land would be submerged.

T~e ~l O\'ement is led by Med ha Patkar who won the 'Right

~I\'elihood Award' popularly known as the alternate Noble Prize
m~1991. The ~-BA_ began its campaign against the Narmada Dam for
LX:tter rehab1lttatton for the over one lakh oust ees of th e pro1ec
. t,
 . bilitY and l<ole oj Business
5,,,~~ over GuJarat,
.
Madhya Pradesh
1n
re8d stalised as a movement a . and Maharashtra and has
,P08y crY gamst large dams.
10
th e actions of the NBA have
.,lj,ile nts efforts to move and revl olved around resisting the
Y' rrtJl'le
0ve ence areas, particularly inreM
oca te the peopIe 11vmg
· · ·
m
g~b111erg 1·ts ideological position h · aharashtra and Madhya
,~de_sh, of a development polic wh. as centered on q_ues t·1onmg
· the
11
&!eet1° f projects like the Na!m dic~ does not weigh the benefits
~d cost ~he NBA has gained inte:n a .or the people living in their
sllad~W- the issue through the mass atio~al support. ~rotestors are
gitatIJ1g . Uies and through h media, hunger strikes, massive
a rches, ra . . s ort documentaries. The NBA has
II'~ pressunzmg the World Bank to withdraw its loan from the
tieo·ect through media. Under pressure from the NBA, the World
P~ decided to sus~end further assistance to the project till its
~pact was fully reviewed. The project is near completion now.

4. the Tehri Dam Movement :

1h second most prominent anti-dam campaign is against the~ 3 465

~e Tehri HEP in the Garhwal Himalayas. The Tehri dam w'hen
~:pleted, will be _one of the highest dam in the world harnessing
the water of tw~ impor~ant Himalayan rivers - Bhagirathj and
Bhilangana. Tehn dam w1ll be 260.S m high and will impound 3.22
million cu. m of water. The reservoir is expected to irrigate 2,70,000
hectares of land and generate 346 mw of HEP. The dam will
completely submerge Tehri town and 23 villages, while 72 other
villages will be partially submerged. Nearly 52,000 hectares of land
will also be lost to the reservoir. In addition, about 85,000 persons
will be displaced by the dam.

The project is located on a seismically volatile region. The project

was conceived more than 30 years ago but received clearance from
the Department of Forests only in 1987 and the Ministry of
Environment in 1990 and the Department of Mines in 1991.
Yet on October 20th 1991, when the entire region shook under a
massive earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale, destroying
some 2000 settlements and killing over 800 people, the safety aspects
of the Tehri Dam were questioned again.
172 Em,iromnentnl Management (S. Y.B.M.S.: Sf:
· ·insiste · lvf,11,)
Co rpo rat1 0n, d th
Th e Teh ri Hy dro De vel opm ent
tha t the darn w at the
ear thq uak e had not affected the project and 8
.<lfe
wit hst and ing on ear thq uak e of a hig her int :s
and was capable of tlsity
up of loc al peop}e\\1
The Tehri Bandh Virodhi Samiti (TBVS) a gro10s . .1st d 1..
d e e tha t the •10
have opposed the project for over a deca e
of building a darn~u¾
sho uld ale rt the authorities to the dangers ~ ~1
. 1e
region .
ts Sun derlal Bah
Anti dam activists led by environmentalis
o~ the dam on gr~8llna
have consistent ly opposed the construction
view to the inacte unds
ranging from safety from the seismic point of .
9uacy fl
kag e for the ous tee s of the pro jed
of the rehabilitation pac e~
cc
po sit ion to the Dahanu Thermal Power
Plan
5. Op r. t1i
3(
icant protests had be se
In Da han u, 125 Km north of Mumbai, signif
l power plant develo en tl1
organised against the 500 MW super therma
. (BSES) today Reli!ed
by the Bombay Suburban Electric Supply Ltd Tl
al green belt, best kno \ ce
Energy Ltd. Dahanu is an unique horticultur P1
en and others oppoS :
for its chickoos. Local chikoo farmers, fisherm
ying crops and rnann X;
the thermal plant for the possibility of it destro e C
life . tr
d and commissioned i UJ
Ins pite of opposition the project was cleare
1995 and the plant has come up in Dahan
u. The project is the firs~ aJ
01 certificate in India. tr
power utility to get both ISO 9000 and ISO 140
nuclear power plants at v:
Th e experie nce has been similar in case of
Enron built Thermal h•
Na rora, Ka kra para and Kaiga and the famous it
pow er plant at Dabhol. \\

~
6. Th e Ko el Karo Struggle: B
tern Indian state that tl
The Koel Ka ro basin is in Jharkhand, an eas
The Koel Karo basin is J,
wa s car ved out of the sta te of Bihar in 2000.
Mahal hills and the P
nes tled bet ween the Kaimoor hills, the Raj
er basins of the Sone C
Vindh ayachal Mo untains, straddles the riv
abitants of the area are 0
Ganga and the Mahanadi rive rs. The inh
onging to the Munda
largely adivasis (indigenous populations) bel F
and Ora on peo ple s. e
 d01 ,1a
. bilityand RoleoJBusiness
,,,. 955, when Jharkhand was .
1/1 1 eJectric project Was cone Still Part of B'h 173
~ydr: 19so,sconducted by the ~hlua!izect With ~uar, the Koe! Karo
iJ1 th proJect report had been ar State ElfW...• . bsequent surveys
~1 tne . Prepa d 1c1ty Boa d B
. ~ .• y 1972-
-\. l {
J1 • tention was to generate re , and land
~ 710
fl'e be dammed at two Point/ iegawatts of e1e:\U.1S1tion began.
,.,o~.iITli on the North Karo ~: Basia on the So th ~ty· lne rivers
~owaJcted through an inter b wer. The two re~e ?el River and
coJ1l1e ters. - asm channel w·th rvo1rs would be
~iJoJ11e l a length of 34.7
stirnated d isplacement has b .
111e e . . een W1d I
tirnates peg? 1ng it at 7,063 famT e Ycontested, withoffic" I
es...,,,,unity estimates going as h' h I ies from 112 villa b1a
o1i1w . ig as 200 000 ges, ut
~at 135 to 140 villages would be com 1 ' people. It is believed
cres of cultiva!ed land Would be e~tely submerged, while 66
a eral sacred sites of the local pop pl . anently flooded. Further
seV . u ation Would be b ,
the project. su merged by
fhe villagers united to form the Koe! K J
people's O_rganizatio~) Kl<JS. In Au;~t ~~,athan (Koel Karo
Xavier Institute of Sooal Service submitted a e: . · P. Lakra of the
court. The Court responded favorably, issu! :~n_to th~Supre?1e
that the government was not permitted to usgf nJunctio~ stating
I h e orce to acquire land
until a mutua agreemelnnt ad been reached. This was a shot in the
arm for the movement. 1985, the Government f Bih
b
that it would u il d two _model villages, meant as rehabilitation
o ar annou need
villages, and the~ the villagers were free to choose if the new
habitation was suitable; however, the government never fulfilled
its promise. In October 1986, all developmental activities in the area
were halted.

In December 2000, the new state of Jharkhand was carved out of

Bihar, and the opposition party (the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha) told
the newly-form ed government, led by the right-wing Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP), to expect dire consequences if the Koel Karo
Project was resumed.

On February 1, 2001, on the pretext of a search operation for 1:1embers

of a Maoist guerilla group, armed troops were s:nt to the site of the
project in Tapkara, where they removed the bamcade that had 6:en
erected by the KKJS and injured two locals. The KKJSheld a meeting
 . ,entnl Mannge111e11f (5. Y.B.M .S.: S£Aiv1,fIJ
..
J
Emnro1111
174
. h immediate steps that needed tO
in the evening, to revi_ew t_ e Th decided to hold a peac fu be
taken to deal with the s1tuat1on. _eyde had been placed T~ I Sit.
in at the same site where the barnca d a half thous and e ne~t
day, February 2, a crowd of abo~ _fo~ 3;aja Poulu sh Gud? athered
at Tapkara Under the leaders P
1 O ia, Sollla
nd
Munda, Viiay Gudia, Poulush Gudia, a ~der Kand~Ina, they
submitted a memorandum of their deman s to a police officet
•t The demands were as follows: "The poJ·ice
h
present on t e st e. . b k •th d
officials must replace the uprooted barne r ac · · i
._w_ ue_respecf
th
th _e InJured Vtctirn s ...
and in accordance with tribal customs. Bo
Amrit Gudia and Lorentus Gudia ~ muS ~ pa~d compensation of
t
50,000 rupees each. The twin guilty officers-in-charge must be
suspended with immediate effect and be removed from the area.''
After some time, a local BJP politician, Koche Mund~, arrived and
addressed the gathering. He left the site for ~ome time, at which
point, a sudden police firing took place, leadmg_t~ the death of 8
people (seven adivasis and one Muslim) and ~he InJur_y of some 30
people on the site. There are several contesting versions of what
happened. The official police version claims that the crowd got ,
agitated after being incited by a local timber merchant, after which
thev were warned several times, then tear gas shells were released
int~ the mob, foJlowing which the shoot order was given. Several
eyewitnesses and policemen, after a fact-finding team visited the c
site, revealed that the two policemen involved in the thrashing the
previous day began assaulting women and youth who were sitting
in front, following which some of the local youth got enraged and Ii
began pelting stones at the crowd. The police fired some shots in c;
the air, after which the crowd began dispersing, and the police g1
started firing indiscrimin ately at the retreating crow d: The site of ~
the firing was immediately renamed the Shaheed Stha1 (Martyrdom m
Site). The firing was met with outrage across the country. h;
In
On August 29, 2003, Arjun Munda, the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, es
announced that the Koe! Karo project was being scrapped. The bl,
reac;on stated was financial difficulty, and exorbitant rise in the d\
pro1ect costs and estim ates, since the initial form ulation of the project.
On July 21th, 2010, the Gove rnor finaIJy comp leted the dosing of Th
th e KoPI Karo project, giving official sanction to the announcement
madt: about ~even vearc; earlier. All offices of the project were closed,
•
 ,~, . abilih;and RoleoJBusiness
fp ,n
.
all employees promised re hab.ihtory empJ .
175
811d .rl'l rne nt agencies. oyment in other
goveJJ'"'.- . .
e sistance 1s widely lauded !Or c
ha ·
<11e r h pro ·e t vm g forced the govern t
JJ'w ith dra w a ydroel ectric
1Tc, a rare event in India . Mmoreen
10 ·ca11Y, it is remembered for th e apkar t· .
,.-!!g1 f h . 1ence perpe'- a hinng, wh ich has become
I.I" r11b ol o t • e v10 lrat ed b .
sYJ.J• Y t e police forces aga ms· t
a violen.t agitators. The moven, ent rema ·
ofl' ms a testament to the will
nf the indigenous peo. ple in the eastern part f I .
o
·ous means o res
t ist a hyd roeJ tr·ic pro1ee. o nd, a, who used
· s, li velihood and ec
. 11ve t th at threatened to
\farttroy their
des cu1tural roots.

piko Movement
1. Ap
~
m
The Appiko movement was a revolutionar . kovement based on
Jh
environmental conservation in India · The 1P o movement (Hu g
) · Uttarakhand in th H· . .
the Trees M ov em en t m 1
ayats tknsp51red t~e
da distric; of,mKaa rna
villagers of the Uttara Kanna . a a tate m
. 1 . 1corests.
out hern In d1a to aunch a sim ilar movement to save th e1r
S . September 1983 by
The App1ko Movement was launched in g1h
women and children
Pan du ran g He gd e along with men,
st. (The loca l term for
of Sirsi "h ug ge d the trees" in Kalase fore
e the Western Ghats in
•hugging" in Kannada is appiko) to sav
Southwest India. ·

In 1983, the villagers in Gubbi Gadde

, a small village near Sirsi
an 'embrace the trees'
taluka of North Kanara district launched
than 81 percent of tJ1e
campaign. " In 1950, forests covered more
rth Kanara) district. But
geographical area in Uttara Kannada (or No
a was selected for major
being declared a ' backward ' dis trict, the are
factory and a chain of
industries - a pu lp and paper mill, a plywood
rivers. By 1980, forest
hydroelectric dams constructed to harness the
to 25 per cent. Locals,
in the district was believed to have shrunk
s. Environ?1entalists
especially the poor, were displaced by dam
rces, affectin g forest-
blamed monoculture for drying up water sou
dwellers.
three-fold :
The objective of the Appik o Mo vement was
b sing various techniques
1 T forest cover Yu
o protect the existing
176 Environ111ental Management (S. Y.B.M.S.: sr-,\A
. C,vHl/J ~fl
to raise awareness like through foot marches in the intel'i nl
forests, slide shows, folk dances, street plays and so on, 0t r
re
• To regenerate trees in denuded lands and G
tri
• To utilize forest wealth with due consideration to conservati a
by introducing alternative energy sources to reduce the press on ~
on the forest. The activists have construct_ed 2,000 fuel•effici:e ~
chulhas ("hearths") in the area, which save fuel w llt
. . Ooct
consumption by almost 40 percent. The activists do not
for government subsidies or assistance, · ·
since there•va1t.
1. , •
8.,.
spontaneous demand from the peop1e. Ev~n in · 5·irsi town and IS
V
in other urban areas, these chulhas are installed in hotels r
reducing firewood consumption. ' e
To save, to grow and to use rationally - popularly know o
in Kannada as Susu ("save"), Belesu ("grow") and Balasu ("ration~ a
use") - is movement's popular slogan. c
}
Appiko movement was started against monoculture (the agricultural 1
practice of producing or growing one single crop over a wide area)
in the Western Ghats. The protest within the forest continued for 38
days and finally the felling orders were withdrawn. Today, it has
become a part of the lives of people. Their non-violent protest
movement has compelled the forest department to ameDd the policy
against felling of forests in eco-sensitive region. There has been a
silent revolution in the Western Ghats. The activists used local
folklore to reach out to the masses.
Started in Sirsi, the Appiko movement spread across the Western
Ghats, including in places outside Karnataka. This movement forced
the forest department to change the forest policy on felling of trees.
Some specific changes include ban on clear felling, no further issuing
of concessions to logging companies, and cessation on felling of
green trees in the tropi-cal rainforest of the Western Ghats. Besides
affecting the forest policy, it also spread to other parts and saved
forests. By linking up, campaigners managed to build awareness to
conserve the sensitive environment in this region. The western Ghats
biodiversity include 1,20,000 living species, 4,500 flowering plants,
500 species of birds, 120 species of mammals, 160 species of reptiles,
70 species of frogs, 800 species of fish and 1493 species of medicinal

f
 . bility and Role of Business
•ftJltlfl
511:i rhe centr al government' 777
pl" 11ized t h_e " .h'igh depIetion"
J'ltS· . s Plann
of natur i C
ng ommission has
fog 'fhe pnon ty of the Appiko M al re_sources in the Western
tS· f W oveme ntis .
G'1". 1forests o estern Ghats. Th saving the remaining
"1ca I t· hi
tfOr oruou s re a ions p betwee e movem ent' . 1s
. to establ
s aim ish
aparll1.,,., developm ent so that ecol: ~eolple and nature, to redefine
t}le.tefp• . bl
for a susta ma e, permanent eg1ca movem . en ts d
to ay form a
pasis conomy m the future .
save the Western Ghats
8,
~
rn Ghats (also known as Sahyadri).
west~aralle l to the western coast of the~~ ~ moun~ain range that
J1l!l~ ly in India . The ran g ian peninsula, located
enure e starts near the border
Gujarat and Maha rashtra, south of the Ta f R'
of . ma tel y 1,600 km (990 ') p 1 tver, and runs
approXI mi throu gh the state s
~Aaharasht ra, Goa, Kamataka, Kerala and Tamil N d ct·
of 1v, . t th h . a u en mg at
v nyak urnan , a e sout
r-a 2 ( 62 000 ') ern tip of India · These h'll I s cover
160,000 km . ' sq mi and forms the catchment area for comp lex
riverine drain age systems that drain almost 40% of India. The
Western Ghat s block southwest winds from reaching the Deccan
Plateau. The ~verage elevati~n is around 1,200 m (3,900 ft). They are
home to a uniqu e ecosystem m the country that is under threat from
human activities. Nearly 59%of this area has been exploited due to
habitation, plant ation or agriculture. Only 41 %of the area is a natural
landscape.
In 2006, India appli ed to the UNESCO MAB for the Western Ghats
to be listed as a protected World Heritage Site. In August 2011, the
Western Ghat s Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) designated the entire
Wester n Ghats as an Ecolo gically Sensitive Area (ESA) and assigned
three levels of Ecological Sensitivity to its different regions. The
Western Ghat s Ecology Expert Panel, headed by ecologist Madhav
Gadgil, was a comm ittee appointed by the Union Minis try of
Envi ronm ent and Fore sts to assess the biodiversity and
enviro nmen tal issues of the Western Ghats . Gadgil Committee and
its successor Kastu rirangan Committee recommen~~~ suggesti~ns
to protec t the Western Ghats. Gadgil report was criticized as being
to~ environme nt-fri endly and Kasturirangan report was labelled as
being anti-enviro nmen tal.
178 E11viro11111e11tal Ma11a geme11t (~. Y.B.M.S.: SEfvt,Jlf)
Toda y it is a UNE SCO Worl d Herit age Site an~ is one of the ei h
" hotte s t h o t-s p o ts" of biolo gical dive rs ity 11:' the worl d.
s omet irnes calle d the Grea t Esca rpme nt of India . The range tu
1f i:
north to south along the west ern edge of the De_ccan Plate au, a~
separates the plate au from a narro w coas ~al plain, ca~le~ I<onkan
along the Arab ian Sea. A total of thirty rune prop ertie s 1ncluct '
natio nal p arks "'' ildlif e sanc tuari es and reser ve fores ts we.111g
. ' . . K --=te
~ es1g nate d as worl d herit age sites - t_we nty in erala , ten
1n Karn ataka , five in Tami l Nadu and four in Mah arash tra.

The area is one of the worl d's ten " Hottest biodiversi ty hotsp ot ,,
and has over 7,402 species of flowe ring ?lantS, 1,8~4 sp ecie~ of no~,
flow ering plan ts, 139 mam mal spe~1es, 508 bird spec ies, 1
amph ibian species, 6,000 insec ts sp~c1es and 290 ~esh ~ater fish 79
s pecie s; it is likely that many undiscovered s pec~es hve in the
West ern Gh ats. At least 325 globally threatened species occur in the
West ern Ghat s.
A first- ever citize ns' mani festo on the Weste~n Gha~s was released
by the Save West ern Ghats Cam paign to bnng to light the critical
issue s afflicting the n1ou ntain ous stretc h along India's west coast
Some of the issue s affec ting the Western Ghat s highl ighte d in th~
mani festo inclu de shrin kage of fores t cover -
• The Western Ghat s have less than 35 p er cent of fores t cover
wher eas it shou ld be 66 per cent, wate r shrin kage in rivers such
as the Cau very due to fores t cover loss and a rise in man-animal
conflict.
• It also ta lks abou t dam- induc ed destr uctio n - sever al dams
acros s the rivers exist in th e West ern Gh a ts, £Tom Koyna in
Maha rasht ra, Supa and Shara vati in Kam ataka to Idduk i in
Kera la - erosi on of agric ultural diver sity, threa t to the livelihood
of tribal people and reckless minin g.
• The West ern Ghats are one of the mos t impo rtant carbo n sinks
in the world for reduc ing en1is sions and g lobal warm ing.
The West ern G h a ts fores ts are critic ally impo rtant for w ildlife
s urviv al as much as they are for huma ns. Thes e areas are threa tened
by large-scal e deve lop me ntal activ ities, inclu ding h ighway.,,
 . abili fl/
-f(ll 11 •
and Role of Busi
lless ----■■
11
S~ ys lines, power ·p ro·
·Jw3 h . . Jects .
ft!• . ts su e as mm1-hydel ' mines a d 779
oJec Gh and w. n even ,
r' s ve Weste rn ats Carn . lnd farm . green energy'
tJ1e a ea m ass movement w·tpha1gn, which bpro1e~ts. Those behind
1..« :001 d 85 i larg egan tn 1987 f
V"- )e. Aroun non-governm e-sca)e Partici . , eel it has
p~ people fr?m five states are a:ntanct researchpo:hon _by conunon
8, people s m o vement t dicatect rnernbe gan1sations and
Jt'Sd~versity
1
hotsp ots. o save on e of th rs of the campaign.
t,iO · e worl d's richest
save Jaitapur
9. -
~
government is planning to b .
'f]l:er plant in Jaitapur, on the Wes~Ild the world's largest nuclear
po
·x 1650
MW nu d ear reactors, provided
coast of Ind. . M
b . ta, m aharashtra.
~p will be op era ted by the Nude p y French company AREVA
L·rnited
1 (NPCIL), a company owne~rb o:er Corporation of India
• Yt e Government of lnd ia.
fbuilt the total capacity of 9900 MW .
I cto; 'p ark' the largest in the worldw111 make the Jaitapur nuclear
rea .
The major con cerns of the project are:

• The reactors are European Pressurised R t

· d 1 eac ors, or EPRs a
d es1g~ eve o p ed by AREVA NP. There are no EPRs
op eration a l yet anywhere in the world, and the safetv and
reliability of the technology is highly questionable. The EPR is
based on the same principle as older reactors and, being more
powerful, p resents even more potential for catastrophe.
Three EPR construction sites currently exist in the world, in
France, Finland and China. The plants in both France and
Finla n d h ave repeatedly run over budget, and are running years
behind schedule while there is little information on the status
of the projects in Ch ina.
• The land for which the Jaitapur nuclear power plant is ~ntende?
is classifie d as a seismic zone four, out of a possible five. This
has been con firn1ed by documents obtained und~r the R~ght to
. n A ct o f 2005 · The website of the National Disaster
In forma t10 · · th
Man agem ent Authority (NDM A) also places Ratnag1n, e
 ,.,.
\.{}Strict WI . Cnviron111 (•II 1fl IM t111age111ent (S. Y.n AA
"lere Ja ,tap 1. l .,v,.s. s
Zone four is k ur s oca ted , as a zone four r-.. . 1i\.i 1
national nown as the' l ligh Damage Risk 2 ~g1on. ~~- ,,1
FUrther d · systen1 fo.1 . · one' lJ 1~~r
assess ing the likelihood of ' 11tle 't
' ocun1ent . l I . earth tth
occurred the . . s revea t 1at nine ty-two earth u 9lla~ ,
The n10s re in Jus t the twenty yea rs between 19~5 akes hct~
t severe one n1easured 6.3 on the Richte . and i0o~~
However ·111 th J • l scale ~-
' .
e a1 tapur Ev1ronmcnta l 1mpact As
·
2010 5
1 'the NPCIL stated that the site was classified a ~ 5t11e11t
Wnich correspon d s to a lower n.sk. The organisat's zon Of

rece_ntly begun to resp ond to public pressure on

s tating that the Jaitapur site is a n1ere zone three.
. · e thte
has ais::~n
e Plant by
• .
Ja1tap t
ur is in the Konkan region in the Western Gh
~onsidered to be one of the world's biodiversity hots a~s. lt ~
ts h om e to thousands of species of plants and animals p ts and j1
w hich are threatened. This project will put this entire e~ any of ~
01

a t consider a ble risk. osysten-i ,:

,,
Spread over 938 hectares, the project will directly aff ~
vi ll ages of Madban, Niveli, Mithgavane, Karel and Varl:ct the
T hose whose land has been acquired for the plant havewada. ~
n1ostly compensated, but the fishermen of Nate village, ~n IV
stand to lose their livelihood because the hot water disch: 0 ~1
from the plant wil] destroy the fish, have been left out beca ge ~
they are "indirectly affected". They insist that studies claim t~se vi
even ha~ a degree of increase in the temperature of water w~: ,
affect the marine life. They will also not be allowed to fish in
the area around the plant.
There has been fierce opposition to the project from the people ,
of Jaitapur a nd the surrounding areas. The issues at st~ke for
the local p eople include concerns about loss of livelihood,
serious damage to the environment, issue of safety given the
seisn1ic activity of the site, track record of disaster preparedness
in India, and fina lly but importantly, the cost of the power
produced and lia bility in case of a disaster. To add to this after
the n uclear disaster in Fukushjma in 2011, there have been
c.,erious concerns around the safety of the nuclear reactors.
 I8 1
,t i/ 11 ,1 1<11/i' of H11c:111e,-.
,,,,,I I,1/ • tl

1
-1· •
1 1-IE BHO PAL GAS TRA GED Y
dV 111ornin g h~urs o f Dccc rn be r 3, 1984, a ve no~ ou_s ~ re~
e ~a ·y tons of toxic gases) from Union Ca rbide India Limite
t11 fort • turntn · g
• IP \.Id ( esticidC plant at Bhopa l spread throug hout the city
J'ci~'s) p chamb er. Wa ter carry ing cata lytic ma terial had entere d
l
ll)flto~gascyana te (M IC) s torage tank No. 610. What foJiow ed was
i\l ,11so
1etM dous.
~ 0rre!' .
, , ~ . er gas sp read s ilently throug h the city, se nding people
) ~ ~,ti blindly throug h the streets not knowing what to do. When
1 cllttf'iflgarrived at hospit als breathless a nd blind, doctors did not
~ jJ11 5 w to treat them, as UCIL had not provid ed emerg ency

s
:"o' " },~
,., auon. It was only d
when the sun rose the next morni ng tha t
.
•pfor.111 itude of the evasta tion
j
if
fl
~01ar was clear. Dead bodies of human s
als blocke d the s treets, leaves had turned black. Estima tes
JPd ari•f11d that as ma ny as 10,000 may have djed immed iately and
st
,11gge e SO 000 were too iU to ever return to their jobs .
. oootO I •

~ ~, obler11 was nobo~ y knew much about the toxin or its antido te.
,. 111e~r weeks of the accide nt many clajme d that the worst was over.
" ,~i~ date nobod y knows the health impac ts of MIC and how to
o &llt l1 uents expose d to the gas. The health burden is compo unded
3
e rreatP more variabl es:
e b)' twO .
H Childre n born after the disaster are also its victims becaus e of
JI • exposure to the deadly gas while they were in their mothe rs'
l\ wornbs.
Chemical wastes remain dumpe d in and around the premises
le ' of ucIL factory , contam inating the water that people drink.
lr The factory used to manuf acture three pesticides: carbaryl (trade
:i, narne Sevin), aldicar b (trade name Temik ) and a formu lation
1e
;s
~r
I
ofcarbaryl and gamm a-hexa chlorocyclohexan e (g-HC H), sold
under the trade name, Sevid ol. For 15 years till the disaste r, it
dt,JJllped proces s wastes , by-pro ducts, solven ts, sub-st andar d
~r products and wastes from machin ery and pollute d water at
n
dump sites inside and outside the plant. Anoth er 350 tonnes of
waste has been kept in a leakin g shed at the site . Th ese wastes
are still lying at the site, polluti ng soil and groun dwate r. This
l~L .. .,, M
now threate n s even a larger numbe r of people than the '111J
one. Many of the ch emicals degra d e slowly and are like f1r~t
reinain in the environme nt for hundred s o ( yea rs. Thc/Y !<,
keep s preadin g unl ess they a r e taken o ut and th ~. \V1!J
e site
decontan,inated. ,~
The a ll egations agains t UCIL, res p on s ibl e fo r the BhopaJ C
Tragedy: as
• The pesticide factory was built in the mids t of d e nsely popuJa
settle m ents. UCIL _chose to s t?re and produce MIC, one of ted
m ost deadly ch enucals (p er~tt~d ex~os u re levels in USA athe
Brita in are 0.02 parts per m1lhon), 1n an area where ne nd
120,000 people live d . arJy
The MIC plant was not designed to handle a runaway rea f
• 1
When the uncontrolled reaction started, MIC was fl oe ~n.
through the scrubber (meant to neutralize MIC emissio;)8
'ng
m ore than 200 times its d esigned capacity. at
MIC was not stored at zero degree centigrade as prescr·be
• a nd the refrigeration and cooling systems had been shut d d
1

fi ve m onths before the disas ter, as part of UCC' s global econ:~

d rive.
Vital gau ges and indicators in the MIC tank were defective.
•
• The flare tower meant to bum off MIC emissions was und
~ repair at the time of the disaster and the scrubber contained;~
J caustic soda.
• By withholding medical information on the chemicals 1•t
deprived victims of proper medical care. ' ,

By denying interim relief, as directed by two Indian courts, UCIL L

caused a lot hards hip to the survivors. In February 1989, the Supreme 5

Court of India ruled that UCC should pay US$470 million as e

compen sation in full and final settlement. UCC said it would accept c
the ruling provided Government of India (Go!) did not pursue any 11
further legal proceedings against the company and its officials. GoI 0
accepted the offer without consulting with the victims. Thirty years ~
late r, there is no closure. Not because of what happened that fateful ~
night, but because our response as citizens has been incompetent re
and ca llo u s.
 I J<C1ic,>f H11'-111c.,... OL
r,1,1_11 n''' 0 pROTOC
i '1'',,,, eoN~_.,~
!!-a~A~~K~A~N~D~KY~O~T~~::::..::------
c,-,it
at EDITS a resu l l o f
1160~ rbon cred its cam e into existe nce a~ ' . 0 115 The
·A"" of ca - g e rn 1ss1 ·
v ,,cePt ness of the need fo r contro 11_,n . h the Kyoto
fftc? ,o _J1g awar: tem was ratified in conjunctio n w1t di ox id e
il'cffc1s1credit syoal is to s top the inc rease o f carbo nt col was
lt,O~ol- ltS ~01bat these changes glo ball~, Kyoto Pro irnitting
«ot0 . tls- 'fo been ratified by 170 countries so far,. cdo . prove
r· •,st 0 d has . • an 1111
I' d aJ1 redu ce Green House Gas Em1ss1o n s . f G reen
~~teel\fes ~o The Kyoto Pro toco l envisages reduction °
~ r11s fi 1encY·
d'e d\l Ef c by 5.2 % in the period 2008-12.
~tl,; cases
JO~s d.,
rt • of 'Carbon Cre 1t: .
,....n1.it1°ll h holde r
ir1 d "ts are a tradable permit scheme that allo~s t e
I
bOJl ere n of carbon dioxide. It is a simple, noo-compulsory wa Y
Offl'lit o!le to the gree~ouse gasses that contribute to climate change
1
ll ~ u11te~c~arrning. one ton of CO2 reduction or its eq~i~alen~
to d globa Gases Carbon Credits are "Entitlement Certificates
~" J-{o~~= UN F~amework Con~ention of Climate Change (UN
i,,S ued by the implementation of the approved Clean Development
fCCC) t_oJll (COM) projects. Developed countries that have exceeded
~1ecnan~ can either cut down emissions, or borrow or buy carbon
t1ie J~ve;o.rn developing countries. E.g. If an environmental group
CJ'fditsenough trees to reduce emissions by one ton, the group will
plantsarded carbon credit. If a steel production unit has an emiss ion
i-e aw of10 tons, but is expected to produce 11 tons, it could purchase
. carbon ere d1t
qtJota " from th e environmental
· group. The carbon ere di t
thJStern, looks to reduce emission by having countries honour their
:ssion quotas and offe~ incentives for being below them.
Carbon credits create a market for reducing greenhouse emiss ions
bygiving a ~onetary value to the_cost of polluting the air. Emissions
t,ecome an internal cost of doing business and are visible on
!he baJance sheet alongside raw materials and other liabilities or
assets. The Carbon Credit is this new currency and each carbon credit
represents_one tonne of carbon dioxide either removed from the
,. - . -·- ·'"'•.:>.: S£i\i
at1nosphere or saved from being emitted. Carbon credits ·111, 5P
called emission permit. Carbon credit is an Environ ar~a~
Pollution Control subject. Carbon credits are certificate;ent alld
to countries that are successful in reducing emissions of g award~
gases. reei,h~St. i

Carbon credits are generated as the result of an addition

1
project. Carbon credits can be created in many ways but lhet catbon
broad types : e are t~·o 3.

1. Sequestration (capturing or retaining carbon dioxide fr

atmosphere) such as afforestation and reforestation act~~ l~
IVJ ti~
2. Carbon Dioxide Saving Projects such as use of ren · J.
energies. ewable
These credits need to be authentic, scientifically based
Verification is essential. and
t
Carb~n cred_it trading is an innovative method of controu· V
emissions using the free market. 1ng
g
For example, if an environmentalist group plants enough tr ;
reduce emissions by one ~o~, the group will be awarded a cred~sUto i!
steel producer has an emissions quota of 10 tons, but is expecun a o
produce 11 tons, it could purchase this carbon credit from ~to O
environmental group. The carbon credit system looks to red e ~
emissions by having countries honour their emission quotas Uce ~
offer incentives for being below them. Unchecked, energy use: r
hence emission levels are predicted to keep rising over time. Th ,1
the number of companies needing to buy credits will increase an~ ~
the rules of supply and demand will push ~p the market ~rice, t
encouraging more groups to undertake envrronmentally friend!, e
activities that create carbon credits to sell. Yale University econotni~ ,
professor William Nordhaus argues that the price of carbon needs 1
to be high enough to motivate the changes in behavior and changes
in economic production systems necesssiry to effectively limit
emissions of greenhouse gases.

Raising the price of carbon will achieve four goals.

1. It will provide signals to consumers about what goods and

 .,,ab''/itYU"" ··-·-.
.J

,~st~' ,;ices are high-carbon ones and shou ld therefore be used

,, 5ef spar ing Iy.
f110 re
twill prov ide signals to pr~u cers about whic h inpu ts use mor e
1 bon (such as coal a nd oil) and which use less or non e (suc h
i '~\,a tura l gas or nuc~ear power), there by indu cing firm s to
a5 titute low-carbon inpu ts.
sLlt,s
•)l give mar ket incentives for inventors and inno vato rs
to
l· ;e~;Jop and introd uce low-car!Jon products and processes that
call replace the curr ent generaho n of technologies.
high carb on pric e wiJI econ omize on the info rmat ion that is
J. Aequifed to do all three of these tasks . Thro ugh the mar ket
r eehanism, a hi?h carbon price will raise the price of prod ucts
ill rding to their carbon content.
3cco

. ~ Allo wan ces:

~ss iO••
the Kyo to Protocol, the 'cap s' or quotas for Gre enho use
(J11de! rni5sions for the developed countries are know n as Assi gned
gaseS e ts and are listed. The quantity of the initial assig ned amoW1t
" 1110un d m . .d ua l unit s, calle d Ass igne d amo unt
. d 1v1
. 1n
,v,- 001 inat e
iS ~e(AAUs), each of whic h represents an allowance to
emit one
¢11t _ tonne of carb on dioxide equivalent, and thes
5 e are entered
tl'etrthice country's national registry.
ifllO
urn these coun tries set quotas on the emissions of installations
ed
ll1 t by'1ocal busi ness and other organizations, generically term
0
,h
~ rators'. Cou ntrie s manage this through their national registries,
are requ ired to be validated and monitored for com plian ce
wthe IJNFCCC. Each operator has an allowance of cred its, whe re
~ unit gives the o:vner the right to emit one metric tonne of carbon
di xide or othe r eqw vale nt greenhouse gas. Operators that have not
~ tip their quot as can sell their unus ed allowances as carbon
~dits, while businesses that are about to exceed their quot as can
buy the extra allowances as credits, privately or bn the open
mar ket.

By permitting allowances to be bought and sold, an oper ator

can
r
seek out the mos t cost-effective way of reducing its emissions, eithe
ng
by investing in 'clea ner' machinery and practices or by purchasi
.
emissions from anot her operator who already has exce ss' capacity'
 l l>b • • v •• ~F
sidered c _·Ait.,,,, 51
For trad ing pur pos es, one all~ w~n ce or CER is con
to one met ric ton of CO,- em1 .
ss1ons. The se allo wances can9u,"
l k
al
i... ~,
v
prevail ' ~ soi tt
priv atel y or in the inte rna tlon a ma r et at the
rice The se trad e and set tle inte rna tion ally and h lTlg ll'larL Q t,J
P · . ence "'t1.
ntn es. Eac h in t a11 0 C
aUowan ces to be tran sfer red bet wee n cou
ork Cer nation'\ c<
tran sfer is val ida ted by the Uni ted Nat ion s Fra mew 0 nv il1
h ow ner sh. entio
on CJi mate Cha nge (UN FCC C). Eac tran sfer of
eJ
by the ~p \.vith1~
the Eur ope an Uni on is add itio nal ly va lida ted Urop
. . on. eel~
C omm1ss1
on all
Cur ren tly the re are five exc han ges trad ing in carb
X Cornowances:
the Eur ope an Clin 1ate Exc han ge, NA SD AQ OM 0
ty Ex cha nge Bra tisl : dities
Eur ope , Pow erN ext , Co mm odi
Commoct·vt_a and
the Eur ope an Ene rgy Exc han ge. NA SD AQ OMX l les]'
the deveJ
The ma in buy_ers of Car bon Cre dit are prin cip ally 0
ion s, Jap an, Can ada , Ne w Zea lan d etc. Th P_ed
Eur ope an nat
h as lnd i: ;a!or
sou rces of sup ply of carb on cre dits are cou ntri es suc ' htna
and Bra zi l.
of Car bon C .
China and Ind ia are mo vin g up fro nt in the wo rlds
For estr y M· ~edit
trad ing s tate s. Acc ord ing to the Env iron me nt and
in Ind ia, com pan ies in the cou ntry hav e alre ady
ear ned $ 7.9 ~tr y
t trad ing in mi boon
thro ugh carb on cred it trad ing . An aly st fore cas t tha
car n
credit wou ld tou ch US $ 100 bill ion by 2010.
of CERs are:
Various ind ust ries tha t hav e sco pe of gen era tion

• Agricul ture

• Energy (ren ewa ble and non -ren ew able sou rce s)

• Ma nuf actu ring uni ts

• Metal pro duc tion

• Mining

• Chemical ind us tries

• Affo restatio n and refo resta tion .

 . . , (1 11 rl Rnle af Busi11ess
f{lt,ll (1[11 I 1.1
1 · t0 tOp
,,,5 oilYbut steadily, the country's banks are gearing u~ 11
Gr8dtJ ly emerged and fast growing carbon credit market. A carbo
i,e 11;:an advise companies that want to go carbon ne_utral. The
1l,8n1< Bank provides a platform that enables ind1v1dual and
carbon te clients to keep tracks of Green House Gases in a secure
cotP0 rarl'lent A few banks Jike SBI ICICI Bank, IDBI and SIDBI have
·rot1 1 " • '
erivl dy rnade in roads in to the market.
ilrea ·~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
A CASE STUDY

rndia is expected to rake in $100 Million annually by trading in

carbon Credits. Indian firms are expected to corner 10% of the
tobal market in initial years. They are likely to generate $ 8.5 bn
!t the going rate of $10/ tonne of CER.
Green bucks are flowing into the country in exchange of eco-
friendly products. Many of these are public sector undertakings
]ike Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals which has been issued
57,004 CER Points by Carbon Credits by the UNFCCC.
Companies from the U.K and Japan are vying with one another
to strike a deal with the company and even at a conservative
cost estimate of 10 euros per CER, the company is all set to make
t 3.18 crore (f 31.8 million) The company only deal with green
projects which combat CO2 and ethane emissions. These are
CERs that are most in demand and qualitatively better.
A biomass project in Rajasthan, which makes power from
mustard crop residnes got 30,368 CERs.
Guj~r~t HFC got 1,157,472 CERs for its project from Green House
Em1ss1on .reduction by thermal oxidation.
The UNFCC issued 71,678 CERs to the 18 MW Kemphole mini
hydel scheme by International Power Crop Ltd In ::l . d
1,1~,570 CERs to a waste heat recovery based ca., tiv~ tao:'er
proiect at Mo~et and 10,971 CERs for Nagda Hills !ind lner
Proiect. The list Stretches further in ] d · . gy
worth 1.5 lakh CERs. cu mg two more pro1ects
 11
188 [ 11v 1·rc>1 lll1 l?ll f t1l JV1U " l'> . ..
- ·· v t- fi.1, J/f)
- - -· -
;-------------------
th
Whil e m ost o f the CER s are listed on ethG reen Exch an
As ia and Euro pe, man y deals takes place rou g h broke r~~-i
1
~
Sy nerg ie and Erns t and Youn g. k~

KYO TO PRO TOC OL

The mee ting of Unit ed Natio ns Fram .

ewor k Conv entto
h Id. D
• on Clim atic Chan ge (FCCC) was e m ecem ber 199n
8
. .hing a di matte
in Kyot o, amid st g reat expe ctati on of reac
G
proto col to redu ce Gree nhou se as enus s1on s.
The Seco nd Asse ssme nt repoPCC rt of the Inter gove rrun
entat
• ·
Pane l on Clim atic Chan ge (I in
·
) · 1996 exph·c1tly rul
that the "bala nce of evide nce now sugg est that there . ect
disce rnibl e hum an influ ence on clim ate." The IPcc ~s a
disti ngui s hed ' Hum an-in duce d clim ate chan ge' fro as
' natu ral clima te variability.' rn
The Rio Sum mit of 1992 adop ted the Fram ew k
• Con vent ion on Clim atic Cha nge . (FCC C) in clor
ear
recog nitio n of the nee d for urge nt actio n.
The basic objec tive of the FCC C is to attai n stabi lisati o
• of GHG conc entra tion in the atmo sphe re, with in a time~
fram e suffi cient to allow eco-s ystem to adop t natu rall
to climatic chan ge. The IPCC mode ls show that imrr iedia (
stabi lisat ion of the carb ondi oxid e conc entra tion as it:
prese nt level wou ld requ ire 50-70 perc ent redu ction in
emis sions .
This can be achie ved eithe r throu gh a 'com preh ensiv e
• mult i-gas appr oach ' (like the ozon e regim e) or a ' gas-b y
gas appr oach ' (like the long rang e trans boun dary air
pol1 ution regim e).
,,,,,a,.
ria
bility. and Role of Business 189

A CASE STUDY: CASH BEGINS GROWING

AT GORAi DUMP YARD

he Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation h as become the

'f untry's first civic body to earn and en cash carbon credi ts, a
~~nd of international re ward s programme that en co urages
reduction of green house gas e missions.

fhe BM~ earne~ these carbon credits by s uccessfully capping

-is Gora1 dumping groun d, that had reached its capacity, and
~en putting in place a mechanism to continually collect m~than e
being released inside the dump and burn it before it escaped
into the environment.

The Gorai dump is currently ' flaring' 300 to 400 cubic metre of
methane gas, one of the most dangerous of the green house gas,
every hour. The Solid Vvaste Management Department, which
helmed this pioneering project, is now looking at various options
to not burn the gas, bu t instead use it to generate energy. If it
manages this transition, the corporation's carbon credit earnings
will go up.
The 19.6 hectare Gorai dump stopped accepting garbage on
January 1st, 2008, thats 30 years after it was designated a landfill
site. By then, it had accumulated an estimated 2.34 million tonne
of trash. In the first stage of capping, the entire landfill site was
w alled from all sides. These walls had their foundations dug
deep enough to touch the hard rock underneath. This was done
to prevent the dirty underground water from flowing in to the
creek on the one side and the adjoining land on the other.
The dump was then covered with two feet of construction
demolition waste, followed b y a cover of high density
polyethy lene sheet. /\. geo membrane cover was laid on the
polyethylene sheet, followed by another layer of construction
and demolition waste and soil to grow grass.
Thirty interconnected wells were dug into this ' tamed' dump to
collect the m ethane gas, which it will continue to generate for
the next ten to fifteen years.
 .1 ::1v ..,,. "' .. - •• ..,, , II)

. "th the United Nations Frame

The project was re?1stered w1 ( opularly known as !<:Work
Convention of Climate Cha;;e !bon credits were solct ~Oto
Protocol) in February 2010. the Ac51·an Development BanL ll'\ a
.
fu ture trad mg ment to e ... 1.1\, Win..
arran~e . d Emission Reduction Pur h 41
which the corporation s1gne c ase
Agreement in 2008.
bl t earn 3 lakh Certified Ern1· .
The project has so far been a e O R d ti ss1on
Reductions (CERs) and 1.25 lakh Voluntary e uc ons ® $13.85
per CER and $ 8.81 per VER.
(Source: Ti1nes of India, 25th August, 2 0lO)

Que~tions:
1. What are carbon credits?
2. What is the significance of the Kyoto Protocol?

3. How was the scientific capping of Gorai dump done ?

4. Suggest ways of environmentally sound dumping of waste

for a mega city like Mumbai.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Define the following terms :

(i) ISO 14001
(ii) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
(iii) Environmental Audit
(iv) Carbon Emission Reduction (CER)
(v) Environment Protection Act
(vi) Sustainability
2. What do you mean by Sustainable Development? What are the major
measures to attain Sustainability?
3. Discuss the salient measures of (a) Wildlife (Protection) Act (b) Water
Act (c) Air Act (d) Environment Protection Act.
4. Why do we refer to Environmental Protection Act, 1986 as an Umbrella
Act. Discuss the n1ajor Environmental Protection Rules, 1986.
 . bility and Role of Business 191
1air1t1
5115 WhYdo we ~eed to have the environmental impact assessment (ElA)
5. {ot any pro1ect to ~ taken up ? What are the various steps to be
dertaken for getting an EIA done?
i.Jfl hr II •
explain the P ase- Environmental Auditing". Discuss its relevance
6- iJ1 the present world.
ro what exte~t has the Legislation in India has helped to protect the
1- quality of environment?
Examine the nature of "Carbon Bank", giving suitable Jndian
8, examples.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

Multiple Choice Questions :

J.
Environmental (protection) Act was enacted in the year
1.
(a) 1986 (b) 1989
(c) 1994 (d) 1998
2. The Air (prevention and control of pollution) Act was enacted in the
year
(a) 1981 (b) 1974
(c) 1994 (d) 2004
3. The Water (prevention and control of pollution) Act was enacted in
the year
(a) 1986 (b) 1974
(c) 1994 (d) 2004
4. The Wild life Protection was enacted in the year
(a) 1986 (b) 1974
(c) 1994 (d) 1972
5. The Forest (conservation) Act was enacted in the year
(a) 1986 (b) 1974
(c) 1980 (d) 1972
6. The first of the major environmental protection act to be promulgated
in India was
(a) The Wild life Protection Act
(b) The Air Act
(c) The Noise Pollution Act (d) None of the above
7. Environmental protection is the responsibility of
(a) Government of India (b) NGOs
(c) Individual (d) All
 . ·ital Management (S. Y.B.M.S.: St-1. A
192 E11v1ro11me1 · c,v1,11
.. . owered to take measure to pr I)
15
8. Which of the following empl· E ,irorunent protection a t otect R.
. . t as pert 1e n, c ~
improve environ.men (b) State government
(a) Central Govt.
. (d) .None
(c) Corporation . 1986 deals with
9. The Environmental (protection) Act, .
(b) Air
(a) Water • All
(c) Soil (d)
10. The ElA should be conducted
(a) Before commencement of the project
(b) During the project
(c) After completion of the project .
(d) At any ti.me before or after the p_ro1ect .
1972
11. The objectives of the Wildlife Prote~tion ~ct ts
(a) To preserve the wild life bio-diversit~ .
(b) To maintain essential ecological and \ife supporting systems
(c) Protection and conservation of wild life
(d) All
12. Environmental education is targeted to
(a) General public (b) Professional social groups
(c) Technicians and scientists (d) All
13. Which of the following animals is endangered species of India?
(a) Black buck (b) Elephant
(c) Fox (d) Giraffe
14. IS0-14000 standards deal with
(a) pollution management
(b) risk management
(c) environmental management
(d) none of the above
15. Environmental protection is the fundamental ~uties of the citizen of
India under the article
(a) 51-A{g) (b) 48-A
(c) 47 (d) 21
16. World summit on sustainable development was held at
(a) Johannesburg in 2002 (b) Rio de Janeiro in 1992
(c) Kyoto in 1994 (d) Stockholm in 2000
17. One Carbon Credit is equivalent to
(a) 100 tons carbon reduction (b) 10 tons of carbon reduction
(c) 1 ton of carbon reduction (d) ½ ton of carbon reduction
 . bility anrl Role of Bu sin ess
·tfl 111" 193
~11) LA was introduced m
• •
India for
1i ~a) ,nining projects
(b) airports
(c) new t~wns_ (d) all the above
Green Bu siness mcorporates the prin
ciple of
19• (a) Sustainability
(b) Profit maximization
(c) Social com~itment (d) AU the above
'fhe goal of National parks and wild
life sanctuaries is
zO· (a) To promote intern
ational trading of animals and their
(b) To evacuate tribal people from products
forest
(c) Conserv~tion of wild life
(d) None of the above
,,s: (1) - (a), (2) - (a), (3) - (b), (4)
~ (9) - (d), (10) - (a), (11) - (a), (12(d)),- (5)
- - (c), (6) - (a), (7) - (d), (8) - (a),
(d), (13) - (a), (14) - (c), (15) - (a)
(16) - (b), (17) - (c), (18)- (d), (19 ,
) - (a), (20) - (c)
z. Match the followings :
Group A
Group B
1) Environment Protection Act
2)
(a) 1974
Air Ac t
3)
(b) 1981
Water Act
(c) 1972
4) The Wildlife Act
(d) 1986
A,1s: (1) - (d), (2) - (b), (3) - (a),
(4) - (c)
3, Explain the following concepts in
one or two lines only:
1. EIA 2. Environment Audit
3. Pollution
4. Environmental Clearance
5. Sustainable Development
6. Air Pollution
7. Water Pollution 8. Environment Management
9. Carbon Credits 10. CERs
11. Umbrella Legislation 12. CDM