 The role of government and citizens in saving the environment need us to be added in any manner. It plays a significant role. The constitution of India had carved out as to how it should be done. And thereafter, various judicial pronouncements, especially by the Honorable Supreme Court, led into part-breaking ways wherein it could be seen that the balance as to how the government as well as citizens can help in the environmental protection. The name of Mr. MC Mehta, whenever we talk of environment, immediately comes in our mind. And similarly, the role of the members of the National Green Tribinals also rings in our mind that how they have been saviours in saving the environment. And amongst them, we can also easily say that Justice Ramakrishna, a former judge of Kerala High Court, has played a significant role while donning the seat as a judge of the Kerala High Court and thereafter as a member of the National Green Tribal. Without making much time, I request sir to share his insights. Over to you, sir. Yes, sir. Good evening, everyone. I took this topic, the role of government and people in protection of environment, because of the fact that everybody nowadays know that we are talking about global warming, climate change and a lot of conventions are being held by the United Nations on climate change as well as by the Conference of Parties of Climate Change in order to meet these aspects. As you are aware that environment plays a great role in protecting Mother Earth, vis-a-vis helps the people also to earn their livelihood and you are also well aware of the fact that in olden days, people were respecting environment and they were worshipping environment as Gods as well. They know very well that any environment into the environmental issues is likely to cause calamities which in turn will affect not only their life but also their day to day activities as well. And thereby, they were very careful in handling the environment and also they were very careful in using the environment for their purposes as well. As you are aware, the definition of environment includes water, air, land and indoor relationship which exists among and between water, air and land and human beings, other living creatures, plants, microorganisms and properties. And what is the reason for the global warming because people were interchanging the global warming and climate change as under the misconception that it is the same one, but in fact it is different because the global warming means the gradual increase in the average temperature of the planet over a period of long period. So slowly there will be changes in the climate unless you maintain an equilibrium of the temperature which is expected to be maintained and the climate change is on account of the global warming. Result of global warming we can say. What will happen if global warming has not been properly addressed? If the global warming is not properly addressed, there is a possibility of ten possibilities have been visualized on account of the same. They are increase in the temperature, drought, unreasonable rain, raise in the sea level, on account of the rain, flood and on account of the drought, there is a possibility of food deficit. And if there is climate change, it may affect the flora and fauna and thereby loss of species. It will create health problem and poverty and displacement in the human life. How it happens? See global warming is happening on account of emission of greenhouse gases namely the carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and methane. It naturally in the atmosphere itself these gases are available but there is a ratio maintained by the nature itself for the purpose of protection of the atmosphere creating a ozone layer. The purpose of ozone layer is to absorb the heat from the sun and also reduce the radiation that is being caused on account of the heat generated from the sun. What will happen if there is increase in the greenhouse gas emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere? It will have impact on the depletion in the ozone layer, thereby there will be any loss of equilibrium in maintaining the absorption and emission of the heat and radiation of the sun, thereby there is climate change occurs, there is increase in the temperature. Once there is increase in the temperature automatically the water level in the existing water bodies will be reduced and thereby there is possibility of drought. In some places because of the increase in the underground temperature because normally the emission comes from the ozone layer, goes to the earth most part of the radiation and the heat is being absorbed from the earth, absorbed by the earth and it maintains in equilibrium. But on account of the change in the climate and increase in the temperature in the atmosphere this will create an imbalance, underground heat will be increased. On account of the underground heat being increased there is a possibility of the ice sheets being melted, thereby huge quantity of water will be created and that will become a part of the ocean and thereby raise the water level in the sea. Once the water level in the sea is increased, there is a possibility of submergence of the certain areas, thereby there is a flood, there is huge calamities likely to happen. There will be change in the periods of the climate cycle as well. Because if there is a raise in the temperature there is no possibility of the cycle being maintained properly as being done by the mother earth. The water that has been absorbed because as we are aware from our school days how rain happens because the rain because of the heat the water the water is being absorbed and it becomes a water vapor, it goes to the sky it becomes a cloud and when the cloud heat is against each other there is a rain comes or it is an obstruction to the water saved clouds then rain falls. There is some mechanism that is being maintained by mother earth or nature itself as to how the quantity of rain will have to be controlled by giving rain to the planet. But when over absorption of water occurs, clouds also will have more water, when clouds have more water what will happen? It is not going to happen a rain, it will become a cloud burst. So, nowadays you have be seeing that the rain comes within an hour rain stops but the water quantity that has been collected on account of the rain is much more than the water quantity which was which we are getting in earlier days, thereby what happens is flood occurs. When flood occurs there is a possibility of affecting the life of the people, a loss of property all these things will happen and not only that this is likely to affect the food chain as well because the production of food is also will be reduced because when it rain comes in an unpredictable manner an unexpected time not in the usual time. And if there is change in the climate winter changes there is no winter, winter becomes hot such things happens in the atmosphere. What will happen? The food chain also food production will be reduced, once the food production is reduced it is likely to cause reduction in the food quantity thereby people may not be able to get the required food for their livelihood as well. Further when water bodies are being encroached the water that has been collected is not being able to reach the water bodies that also causes flood in the low lying area affecting the life of the people. So all these things will go to show that there is a necessity for protection of environment not only that see once a drought comes the rain is not properly the quantity of rain is not properly obtained it is a possibility of scarcity of water when the heat in the underground heat is increased heat waves are created underneath then there is a possibility of depletion of ground water thereby availability of fresh water will be affected. The study that has been conducted by UN climate change had informed the world that by 2050 there is possibility of water and thereby you may not be able to get water for drinking itself. So it is high time for you to conserve and preserve water and it is high time for the people to protect the environment and they must understand the responsibility to protect the environment as well that is how the conference on climate change have taken lot of resolutions to protect the environment. First of such thing was happened in 1972 in Stockholm and they have mentioned that environment is part of life and for having a decent life and the safety life environment will have to be protected. So they linked that with the human right at the same time they were also aware of the fact that there is a necessity for development as well. So the first generation, second generation, third generation aspects have been considered by them and in the third generation they have thought about the safety of the people protection of environment and the link between the development and the environment. That is how they evolved a policy that there must be a sustainable development why service protection of environment that must go together for the purpose of economic development of the people as well. Why the global warming happens, why the climate change happens that is because the emission of greenhouse gases in large quantity to the atmosphere. How these things are happening, these are happening on account of emission from the vehicles, emission from the industrial belt, industrial activities, dust that has been created and also on account of over emission of carbon dioxide by several activities. So in order to avoid that they thought that it is necessary to maintain the carbon print footprint and the securitization of carbon is also required. So as to maintain the balance to protect environment. The principle two of the guidelines issued as a protocol in 1972 convention says that the natural resources of the earth including air, water, land, flora and fauna and especially the representative samples of natural ecosystem must be safeguarded for the benefit of the present and future generations through careful planning or management as appropriate. Principle four of the said declaration says man has a special responsibility to safeguard and wisely manage the heritage of wildlife and its habitat which are now gravely imbarred by a combination of arduous factors nature conservation including wildlife must therefore receive importance in planning for economic development. Principle eight says economic and social development is essential for ensuring a favorable living and working environment for man and for creating conditions on earth that are necessary for improvement of quality of life. In 1992 the Rio convention principle one says human beings are at the centre of concern for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature. Principle ten says environment issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens at the relevant level. At the material level each individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities including information on arduous materials and activities in their committees. And the opportunity to participate in decision making process. It shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and the participation by making information widely available effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings including redress and remedy shall be provided. Based on this in 1976 constitution was amended by 42nd amendment by incorporating article 48 a to the constitution under part 4 a which says protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding the forest and wildlife. The state shall endure to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forest and wildlife of the country. For the first time the fundamental duties were incorporated under the constitution by this 42nd amendment by incorporating article 51 capital A and small g says it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forest, lakes, rivers, wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures. It is on that basis the water act, air act, environment protection act and so many acts and the rules they render incorporating the power under the environment protection act was also passed by the legislation taking into account that those rules are required for the purpose of maintaining environment and authorities were also created for the purpose of maintaining this aspect. But whether that all will be sufficient for this purpose further you would have read the newspaper reports on COP 26, 27 and 28 regarding the conference of parties on climate change by the developing countries because the main reason for causing global warming is due to the emission of the greenhouse gases by the developed countries on account of their development created by industrialization of forestation or the deforestation and over exploitation of the natural resources and that has had impact on the other countries developing countries. So they decided that there must be an agreement for creating a loss and damage fund and contribution must be given by the developed countries which are responsible for such depletion in the ozone layer reason for the global warming and thereby that amount will not be utilized as a fund to raise the financial capacity of the developing countries to redress the grievance of the impact of such global warming on the developing countries. But how far we are going to achieve in that is yet to be seen. But being a party to the convention and signatory to the governance India has got their own responsibility and one of the resolution that has been taken is to reduce emission of greenhouse gases. They said that could be possible by shifting the use of fossil fuel like coal, oil and natural gas to renewable energy sources thereby the quantum of emission of greenhouse gases can be controlled on account of the same. So first of all there is a duty cost on the government to evolve policies as policies regarding the implementation of clean and green energy, green and clean fuels for the purpose of reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases. So that could be possible by utilizing the natural resources which are abundantly available in the planet namely using solar that is sun, sunlight you can create solar energy by using wind you can create electrical energy from wind by hydro projects you can create electricity. Now atomic energy is also being, nuclear energy is also being contemplated for the purpose of creating energy, electricity power. Thereby if these energies are being substituted for fossil fuels there is possibility of reduction in emission of greenhouse gases thereby global warming can be to some extent addressed. In all these conventions they have taken a decision that in order to sustain the environment in order to protect the environment in order to protect the life of the people against the impact of global warming at least 1.5 percent 5 degrees Celsius of the temperature will not be reduced by 2070. If it is not gradually reduced to that extent the possibility of increase in the temperature also cannot be ruled out thereby the deterioration that is likely to be caused for the environment and impact on the human beings and also the other living creatures all flora and fauna will be increased. Once that is increased the calamities that is likely to cause will also will be more. So it is for the government to evolve policies on these aspects and find out methods as to how this can be implemented effectively on the grass root level for which they will have the authorities and they will have the way forwards and that will have be implemented in its stricter sense. You cannot avoid development because as the population increases because one of the reason for global warming is increase in the population. Once the population increases the need also increases need for accommodation need for agriculture need for production of employment all these will also increase thereby you are going for deforestation and reducing the green cover. Once you reduce the green cover you know very well the role played by the plants they are absorbing the carbon dioxide and emitting oxygen photosynthesis being caused thereby you are getting clean air right to clean get clean air is part of right to life as ensured in the article 21 of the constitution of India. Because why I am saying this is article 48a though there was a responsibility on the government to protect the environment it it is not coming under the chapter fundamental rights but it comes under the chapter principles of direct direct principles of policies which cannot be enforced through force it is only an advisory thing given to the government by the constitution what are the responsibilities they allow to do for the purpose of protection of the people. But while interpreting the provisions and also understanding the importance of the necessity for protection of environment which has been considered as part of right to life because get to clean air get to clean water get to clean environment are all necessary for your decent right to life. Right to life is controlled under article 21 of the constitution of India which is a fundamental right. So supreme vote while interpreting section 21 article 21 of the constitution of India enlarge the scope of the fundamental duties as well as the direct principles of policy in respect of protective environment as part of right to life thereby made it enforceable through the state authorities. I do not want to give the decisions on those aspects because almost all decisions dealing with the environment even in the Delhi pollution case now being going on in the high court as well as Supreme Court high court as well as the national green tribunal. Everywhere article 41 48 and 51 G were being repeated and the responsibility of the citizen as well as the government are being exposed thereby reminding the government to create policies for the purpose of protection of environment. So the policy making is necessary not only policy making implementation of the policy making through it regulates case also is necessary for that purpose that can be possible only if the state has taken a role in protecting environment. They will have to evolve policies for shifting the energy the energy process from fossil energy to fossil fuel to renewable energy. See on that basis number of policies have been evolved by the state government even recently also they have they have passed energy conservation act and that was amended in that was passed in 2001 amended in 2022 thereby they have decided that there must be a responsibility on the citizens also to use renewable energy for meeting their purposes thereby they have made energy NCBC in energy conservation building code. Whenever you are making constructions of residential complexes you will have to have your own resources for the purpose of meeting the energy required for your purposes you will have to use the solar energy for that purpose if wherever wind energy is possible you can do that electricity can be used for that purpose instead of fossil fuels. So thereby there was a restriction cost or responsibility imposed for using renewable energy and we can call it as green and clean energy for the purpose of meeting your power supplies which are required for your day to day life. So thereby the government is equally responsible to make policies make schemes and make available those schemes to be implemented through the authorities by the by its subject that is the name of the citizens. So and they must also create an awareness among the people regarding the impact of global warming and the necessity for their contribution for protection of environment against this global warming. So thereby the awareness programs will have to be conducted by them regarding the necessity for shift of energy from fossil energy to renewable energy that is one method by which you can reduce because all industrial the industrial area vehicles now you are going for e-vehicles and the green gas that is being created for the purpose of getting the vehicle being operated on account of the same because all these things are likely to reduce the emission level but we do not know how far it is scientific how far it is whether it is having full proof all those things will be coming to has to be taken into consideration in later stages when such challenges are being imposed further it is also evolved as a policy that because of the change of lifestyle in the people that has caused these aspects. So you will have to go back to your original position original lifestyle good habits protection of environment protection of nature live with nature you will have to learn how to live with nature certain things which will be possible for us to reduce these aspects are waste management. Waste management is a globally challengeable one because of the accumulation of waste it is being causing enormous pollution when pollution is caused to the atmosphere automatically everything will be affected that is what is happening so what you are expected to do as a citizen is the main thing which we allow to because government creating policies implementation of policies by the government how it has been regulated etc are all on the state the domain of the state it is for the state to do all those things but they will they must have a policy they must have a mechanism to implement those things in an effective manner so as to honor their commitment of the being a signatory to the conventions on climate change when it comes to the citizen aspect is concerned waste management is one segregation of waste will not be done in a proper way reduce reuse and recycle this is the mantra that will out be taken note of by the public as their responsibility for protection of environment reduce means reduce the quantity of waste how will you reduce it good waste use food only for the purpose of your user don't waste once you adopt not to waste the food then food waste is reduced once the food waste is reduced the disposal of the food waste the problem of disposal of food waste is also reduced avoid certain things which are likely to cause pollution single use plastic you the you can have the materials which are reusable in nature for example when you are going to a shop instead of carrying a plastic bag or single use plastic bag use and throw method avoid that recycle reusable mechanism will out be practiced by people thereby they can reduce the generation of waste once generation of waste is reduced automatically the disposal of waste is also reduced the the responsibility of response of the waste by the authorities will also be reduced thereby causing pollution is reduced recycling the waste the the possibility of recycle the waste from one form to other and reuse it again bring it to the user user mechanism that is one method by which you can reduce waste of materials once you are reducing the waste of materials you are indirectly contributing for protection of environment because once the you are creating paper a paper is required for the purpose of writing another thing once it is recycled recycled again it will put it used in a different form then number of trees that is likely to be cut for the purpose of making paper is reduced thereby you are saving the trees quantity of water that is required for the purpose of manufacturing of these things you are reducing that thereby the quantity of water will be available for better use that is known as conservation preservation and protection of water sources use minimum amount of water required for your purpose so nowadays see earlier we were having a bucket a cup will be there you are open the tap water will be collected in the bucket use a mug and use how take bath in all purposes you are washing everything will be done on that with a limited quantity of water in the bucket you will be able to do so many things and that water will be used for agriculture or doing gardening etc without knowing the process of treatment and recycling of the water reuse of the waste water without knowing the impact or the scientific impact of those things in olden days they were it is embedded in them and they were doing it automatically protecting environment and with all their sincerity so you will have to go back to the original position don't waste water don't open the shower and stand there for hours enjoy a dance nothing you reduce the quantum of water that is required and don't you open the tap allow the water to flow while you are brushing or while shaving because water will be going you will be shaving only but when water is required only when you are washing your mouth another thing till then why should the water be wasted think about that this is a small thing that can be done by every citizen to save the usage of water then another thing is avoid discharge of untreated sewage into the drains thereby it automatically reaches the water bodies and that is likely to be polluted the same water you are using maybe some treatment so-called treatment I can only say that you will not be as clear as we were using it in the earlier days without pollution olden days people were using the water from the river even without bombing it up they are straight away taking it and drinking it without any difficulty never causing any disease for them can it be anticipated now will it be possible for us to do that because you are likely to bone with the water bone diseases because of the bacterial impact of the waste that is being generated and injected into the water bodies by our own activities so you will have to see that the untreated sewage is not being let into the water body and it is a responsibility of the government to see that under govern see wages up because it is not possible for to have sockets as in the case of olden days because you have got a larger area now people are constructing small houses in small plots or in the small plots skyscrapers are coming up when skyscrapers are coming up there is a restriction that they will not have their own treatment plant and recycle the water for their purpose but in the small houses the difficulty will be they will not be possible for them to have the water sources as well as the disposal method of wastewater so it is always better for the government to have common drainage system sewage treatment system thereby collect the sewage generated from the houses through the drain channel and take it to the water water treatment plant sewage treatment plant and get it treated there to a standard that has been prescribed under the statutes and the rules and reuse that water for other purposes other than drinking and cooking because you can use it for washing you can use it for plushing you can use it for gardening all those purposes this water can be used certain extent of water treated water can be let into the water bodies thereby e-flow can be maintained in the water body once the e-flow is maintained the possibility of maintaining the biological oxygen level in the water can be maintained once that is maintained the aqua life can be protected otherwise it is likely to have impact on the aqua life if the same thing will happen in the case of marine also once the ocean is polluted the marine products will be affected marine life will be affected once the marine life is affected the persons who are depending on their livelihood using the marine products will be affected so wherever it is possible avoid disposal of waste in public places disposal of waste in the water bodies discharge of untreated sewage or your fecal matters into the water bodies thereby affecting the quality of the water and also thereby having impact on the health of the people so thereby you can have conservation system preservative system protective system and you can have rain harvesting system rainwater harvesting system is one of the methods by which a huge quantity of water that is being collected in the due to the rain can be collected in a particular scientific method and it can be discharged into the ground water itself ground itself once so much of water is being absorbed water is being absorbed by the ground the ground water level will be increased because on account of the global warming there is a possibility of depletion in the ground water level on account of the depletion of the ground water level fresh water will not be available because of the the dry climate the surface water is also will not be available in order to maintain the surface water you can have the recycled water being let into the water bodies to maintain e-flow by discharge by percolating the water that is being collected during rainy season by utilizing the rain harvesting system rainwater harvesting system you can increase the ground water recharge and that ground water discharge is helpful for the purpose of producing more fresh water that will be available for the people similarly you will have to avoid encroachment into the water bodies once you encroach into the water bodies the water collection area is being reduced once the water collection area is being reduced there is a possibility of flood the water bodies like lakes and ponds are indented not only to collect water for use for agriculture purpose alone they are also acting as reservoirs of water for encouraging percolation of water into the ground thereby it will act as a water recharge system in a natural manner thereby you will be getting water throughout the air in that area it will not be drained so you will have to create as many as possible water ponds and you will have to restore the water bodies which are already in existence and maintain the same thereby you are contributing to the nature for collection of water as a preservation and conservation method and thereby the water is being protected against waste you are minimizing the wastage of water available thereby that can be used by you in future as well similarly you can also go for renewable energy in your houses solar energy can be possible because now their system the schemes are coming up by the government those who are using the solar system the energy can be purchased by the department that will be given credit to you thereby you are reducing your electricity charges there you are producing your you have become a producer of energy as well for your own purposes and also contribute to the department for use of others as well so as far as possible create awareness among the people to have renewable energy from natural resources for their purposes as well so when these things are all possible and when we are able to reduce the waste if you are able to shift from the other fossil energy to the natural energy renewable energy cleaner green energy possibility of emission of greenhouse gases can be reduced thereby there is a possibility of reduction in the global warming all those things can be possible only by making awareness among the people you will have to make involvement of the people in these activities you must make them understand the responsibility of these things as well see that is the reason why we are celebrating because even the COP 27 28 also they said the number of days that you will have to celebrate finance day mother earth day environment day biological diversity day all these things will be helpful for the purpose of creating awareness among the people about their responsibility and how far they can contribute for the purpose of protection of environment once all this can be practically implemented if you have taken an oath that I will do something for protection of environment that determination in you itself will be sufficient that motivation in you will be sufficient for the purpose of contributing from your side for protection of environment that is required in the time for avoid the impacts of global warming on the human life so I feel that I have generally covered all these aspects your responsibility to do that it is for us to take an oath that we will also contribute for ourselves we will not point against the government to do certain things which you are expected to do once you can do that we can ask the government to do what they want to do it if you are not able to do yourself and if you are not you are failing in your responsibility in protecting environment then asking the government alone to do that will be of no avail so it is for us to work along with the government to see that the global the effects of government effect that has been taken by the government for the purpose of protecting the mother earth from the global warming is in your hands so the lawyer community has to come forward to conduct as many awareness programs as possible because environmental awareness is not available for the people you will have to go back to the original lifestyle you will have to change the lifestyle and synchronize your lifestyle with nature learn how to live with nature that is a contribution that you that you are going to give that you are going to make for the purpose of protection environment thank you very much for patiently hearing these aspects thank you thank you sir I'm just reminded that what as a student we should say do not ask what the country has done for you but ask what the country what you are doing for the country similarly you have hammered the point in the right perspective we day in and day out see the people criticizing the government but they do not appreciate the fact that both have to work in tandem and we have to see and ensure that things happen in the right way and we are so happy that you have been able to share your knowledge in such a short span thank you everyone stay safe stay blessed thank you