Assignment on Environmental Law

Title: Principle of Sustainable Development: A Study

Name: Dathranghok Robert Sean Pajat

Roll No. : 19.BA.LLB.46
Semester: Eight (8th)Semester of February 2023- July 2023
Name of institution: Department of Law, North Eastern Hill University,
Shillong.
Submitted to: Mr. Shishir Tiwari

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 Table
Sl No. Content Pg No.

1 Introduction 3

2 Origin and Background of Sustainable Development 4

3 Importance of Sustainable Development Principles 5

Sustainable Development 6

4 Sustainable Development in India 7

5 Initiatives That Are Taken by The Government 8

6 Scope of Extent of Sustainable Development 9-10

7 Salient Features of Sustainable Development 11-18

8 Conclusion 19

9 Bibliography 20

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 Case Laws Table

Sl No. Content Pg No.

1 A.P. Pollution Control Board v. M.V. Nayudu 12

2 A. Jagannath v. Union of India 12

3 Indian Handicrafts Emporium v. Union of India 13

4 Vellore Citizens’ Welfare Forum v. Union of India 14&16

5 Narmada Bachao Andolan v. Union of India 15

6 M.C. Mehta v, Kamal Nath 16

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 Introduction
Sustainable development is a worthy and important goal. It is a futuristic
development model, and during the past 20 years, corporations, governments, and
civil society organisations have all made commitments to sustainable development
objectives. According to Maurice Strong, who served as the Rio Summit's previous
secretary general, sustainable development "has been embraced by people
throughout the world." Despite acceptance of and dedication to the sustainable
development principles, action has not gone beyond the periphery and most
definitely has not resulted in the fundamental transformations required to enable
the shift to sustainable development.
A style of human growth known as sustainable development (SD) strives to fulfil
human needs while protecting the environment so that these needs may be
addressed not only for the present but also for future generations. The Brundtland
Commission first introduced the phrase "sustainable development" and came up
with the definition that has since become the most popular: "development that
meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs."

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 Origin and Background of Sustainable Development

The seeds for the idea of sustainable development were planted as long as in the
year 1972 in the Stockholm Declaration. However the concept came into being in
the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio De
Janeiro in the year 1992, it wasn’t until this renounced summit that the first world
countries and major world leaders came to acknowledge the extreme need of
sustainable development in order to overcome crucial challenges that were to be
faced.

A report, famously called the ‘Brundtland report’ was drafted subjugated as per the
commission of Norway’s ex-prime minister Ms.G.H Brundtland in 1987 under the
UN conference on environment and development. Prime Minister Brundtland
defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their
own needs”[1] These ideas were later used to form the laying foundation for the
doctrine of sustainable development.

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 Importance of Sustainable Development Principles
Human civilization needs to adhere to principles of sustainable development to
preserve our resources. It helps maintain a balance between development activities
and environmental preservation. Sustainable development principles are crucial for
socio-economic development and limit the capability to cope with future
requirements.
These principles of sustainable development are essential to ensure the social,
economic and environmental well-being of the community. Sustainable
development principles have been developed considering the following:

 Usage and distribution of resources that are required for improving the lives of
people
 Renewable and non-renewable natural resources help in sustaining on the planet
 Issues that either facilitate or degrade the process of improving the quality of life

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 Sustainable Development
Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural
systems with the social challenges faced by humanity. As early as the 1970s,
“sustainability” was employed to describe an economy “in equilibrium with basic
ecological support systems.” Ecologists have pointed to The Limits to Growth, and
presented the alternative of a “steady state economy” in order to address
environmental concerns.
The concept of sustainable development has in the past most often been broken out
into three constituent parts: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability
and sociopolitical sustainability. More recently, it has been suggested that a more
consistent analytical breakdown is to distinguish four domains of economic,
ecological, political and cultural sustainability. This is consistent with the UCLG
move to make ‘culture’ the fourth domain of sustainability.

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 Sustainable Development in India

The ecosystem in India is in grave distress, where the agriculture has seemingly
declined, 10% of flora and fauna are on the verge of extinction and over half of the
water bodies are polluted, two-third of the land is degraded and modern wastes that
include industrial as well as chemical waste is being disposed of in water bodies
since it cannot be renewed1.

Despite the degrading environmental condition of the country India has played an
important character in improving its condition. It works on the parameters of
ideation, diplomacy and institution. It has become one of the first countries to
participate in Voluntary National Reviews that surveys various measures and
graphs to check on the progress of goals leading up to sustainable development.
India has also constantly funded the United Nations trusts for the SDGs, it works
with the G77 and collaborates with them to reach to a consensus where countries
agree to reap benefits for their developmental growth as well as maintain the
decorum of nature.

1
https://m.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/amp/sustainable-development-and-india-1503408725-1

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 Initiatives that are taken by the Government
Several acts and laws have been passed by to ensure protection and preservation of
flora and fauna these include:

1. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974

2. The Forest (Conservation) Act 1980

3. The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1980

4. The Environment (Protection) Act 1986

I. The legislature also introduced a National Green Tribunal under National

Green Tribunal Act, 2010; the tribunal has the goal to dispose of cases
quickly and effectively to the issues related to multi-corporal matters which
are related to the environment. The Tribunal does not follow Code of Civil
Procedure 1908. The Tribunal has aided in lessening the burden of the
higher courts and helped in fast hearings.
II. India then initiated the National Clean Air Programmed 2019 to effectively
imply the importance and urge of clean air and the need to reduce air
pollution and improve the Air Quality Index.
III. An integrated mission in 2014 was introduced the Namami Ganges Mission
with the objective to preserve and rejuvenate the river Ganges. It focuses on
the development and maintenance of sewage treatment infrastructure and
factory effluents handling.
IV. State Action Plans on Climate Change aim to capacities and implement
sector activities that focus on climate change. Till date 28 states and 5 Union
Territories have endorsed themselves with the SAPCC and adapted to
benefit in sectors like water, land, air, migration tourism, forestry,
agricultural and etc.

India has also been a part of the Paris Agreement and has put its effort by forming
many more acts and agreements like the Clean Development Mechanism project in
India, Coal Cess and the National Clean Energy Fund, National Adaptation Fund
of Climate Change and many more.

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 Scope of Extent of Sustainable Development

The concept of sustainable development, as pointed out the chairperson Ms.

Brundtland in her report (popularly called the Brundtland report) is aimed at
meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability a future
generations to meet their own needs. Commenting on sustainable development, the
Former President of the World Bank James D. Yolkenson observed, “it is for us to
think as to what kind of world we want. Do we want to bequeath a world for our
future generation a poorest world wherein innumerable people die of hunger,
climate uncertainty, biodiversity at its lowest ebb and social conditions most
unstable? This observation of Volkenson clearly shows that the central focus of
sustainable development is not confined to the present happiness of the people but
it also expends to safeguarding the interests of the coming generations.

Sustainable development involves a multi-faceted approach i.e.

a. economic,
b. human,
c. environmental, and
d. technological.

It is a process which seeks to bring improvement in the quality of human life

alongwith conservation of the ecological system. Thus, development and
environment, both are inter-dependent and therefore, there cannot be development
without protection of environment, nor can there be conservation of environment
without development.

The former U.N. General-Secretary Kofi-Annan had identified five areas for the
applicability of the principle of sustainable development. They are

I. water,
II. health,
III. power and energy,
IV. Agriculture and
V. Bio-diversity.

Former Prime Minister of India Smt. Indira Gandhi had categorically

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stated in her address at the Stockholm Conference, 1972 that water, air,
land, soil, plants, trees and living organisms must be preserved because
they are valuable natural resources for the benefit of the future
generations.

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 Salient Principles of Sustainable Development

The principle of sustainable development which received international recognition

as a result of Brundtland Commission Report (1987) was overwhelmingly
supported by all the nations. Some of the salient principles which underlie the
concept of sustainable development were spelled out in the Rio Declaration, 1992
and Agenda 21. Therefore, these principles have got to be necessarily followed in
order to achieve the objective of sustainable development. These principles are as
follows:
Inter-generational equity;
(2) Use and conservation of natural resources;
(3) Environmental protection;
(4) The precautionary principle;
(5) The ‘Polluter Pays’ principle;
(6) Principle of liability to help and co-operate;
(7) Poverty eradication; and
(8) Principle of ‘public trust’.

1. Inter-Generational Equity.- The principle of inter-generational equity pre-

supposes the right of each generation of human beings to benefit from cultural
and natural resources of the past generation as well as the ‘obligation’ to
preserve such heritage for future generations. The principle emphasises on
conservation of biodiversity resources and of the renewable sources like forests,
water, soil etc.

The principle of inter-generational equity has its genesis in Principles 1 and 2 of

the Stockholm Declaration, 1972 wherein environment has been taken to be
resource basis for the survival of the present generation and right to be
beneficially used by the future generations. Both these principles are
reproduced as follows:
Principle 1.- Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate
conditions of life, in an environment of quality that permits a life of dignity and
well-being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the
environment for the present and future generations.

Principle 2.- The natural resources of the earth, including the air, water, lands,
flora and fauna, and especially representative samples of natural ecosystems,
must be safeguarded for the benefit of the present and future generations
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 through careful planning and management, as appropriate.

In A.P. Pollution Control Board v. M.V. Nayudu2, the Apex Court observed that
where the State Government makes an attempt to balance the need of the
environment and need of the economic development, it would not be proper to
prohibit it from doing so. In such a case, it would be safer to apply the
‘protective principle’ and the ‘principle of polluter pays’, keeping in mind the
principle of sustainable development and the ‘principle of inter-generational
equity!
2. Use And Conservation of Natural Resources - This principle requires that
earth's natural resources should be carefully used in such a way that they may
be conserved and enhanced for the future generation. It must be borne in mind
that natural resources are already depleting due to poverty, over- population,
urbanisation, industrialisation etc. and there is likely to be acute shortage of
these resources in future. Therefore, there is dire need to develop techniques
and technologies which may need minimal utilization of natural resources.

The principle of use and conservation of resources is founded on the theory that
the present generation should be modest in their exploitation of natural
resources for the benefit of the future generations. This will secure the
conditions of survival for future generations. This principle has been accepted
by the international community in the form of Principles 8 and 23 of the Rio
Earth Summit Declaration, 1992.
Principle 8 provides that in order to achieve sustainable development and a high
quality of life for all people, States should reduce and eliminate unsustainable
pattern of production and consumption. Thus, use and conservation of natural
resources should be an essential principle of sustainable development.

Similarly, Principle 23 of the Rio-Declaration (1992) specifically states that the

environment and natural resources of people under oppression, domination and
occupation, shall be protected by all means.
The Supreme Court applying the principle of careful use and conservation of
natural resources, observed in the case of A. Jagannath v. Union of India3, that
activities of the industries violative of this principle and of, environmental
legislations must be discouraged.

In Indian Handicrafts Emporium v. Union of India4, the indigenous ivory or

2
1999(2) SCC 718
3
(1997) 2 SCC 87
4
AIR 2003 SC 3240

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 ivory articles were prohibited from being exported as it impugned Wild Life
(Protection) Act, 1972 and was also against the moral claims embodied under
Article 48-A of the Constitution and principle of conservation of natural
resources.
3. Environmental Protection
Environmental protection is an integral part of sustainable development. Most
of the nations have enacted environmental protection laws to ensure sustainable
development within their territories. In order to reinforce sustainable
development, an effective environmental protection mechanism is needed. It is
generally seen that inadequate protection of environment or its degradation
affects the poorest sections of the society most as they draw a large part of their
livelihood from unmarked environmental resources such as forests, water from
hand pumps, air polluted and noisy slum dwellings etc. The problem of
environmental protection generally emanates from water resources, forests,
agriculture, industry, energy and power etc., therefore, policy decisions in these
sectors should be environmental oriented and well planned so as to ensure that
there is no degradation in the natural environment.

So far India is concerned, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 is the central
legislation. Besides, there are some other pollution control and prevention laws
and States have also framed their own anti-pollution laws according to their
local requirements. The ultimate object is to ensure sustainable development for
protection of environment from being degraded or polluted.

4. Precautionary Principle
The precautionary principle seeks to ensure that a substance or human activity
which may cause a threat to the environment is prevented from causing harm to
environment, even if there is no conclusive scientific proof of linking that
particular substance or human activity to environmental damage. Thus,
precautionary principle pre-supposes that onus of proof is on the industrialist to
show that his action is benign, that is not harmful to environment.

The precautionary principle in the context of environmental protection is

essentially about the management of scientific risk. It is a component of the
concept of ecologically sustainable development and has been defined in
Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration, 1992.” According to this principle, “where
there is threat of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full
scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to
prevent environmental degradation." In other words, any human activity or
behaviour which bears the harmful effect to the environment has got to be
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 prevented at all costs.

It may be stated that prior to the precautionary principle as incorporated in

Principle 15 of the Rio-Declaration, 1992, Principle 6 of the Stockholm
Declaration, 1972 relating to the Assimilative Capacity Principle was the
governing rule which provided as under :-
“The discharge of toxic substances or of substances and the release of heat, in
such quantities or concentrations as to exceed the capacity of the environment
to render them harmless, must be halted in order to ensure that serious
irreversible damage is not inflicted upon ecosystem. The just struggle of the
peoples of all countries against pollution should be supported.”

Thus, the assimilative capacity principle assumed that science could provide
policy-makers the information and means necessary to avoid encroaching upon
the capacity of the environment to assimilate impacts and it is presumed that
relevant technical expertise would be available when environmental harm was
predicted and there would be sufficient time to act in order to avoid such harm.
The precautionary principle has received legal recognition in almost all the
international instruments and has now become an integral part of the United
Nations Environmental Programme. The European Community has adopted the
principle in the Bergen Declaration on Sustainable Development, 1990 and
reiterated that environment related actions should predict, prevent and ‘suppress
environmentally harmful factors’.

Beginning with Vellore Citizens’ Welfare Forum v. Union of India5, the

Supreme Court explicitly recognised the precautionary principle as a principle

of Indian environmental law in a number of subsequent cases. Justice Kuldeep
Singh of the Supreme Court in Vellore Citizens case laid down the following
rules with regard to precautionary principle:-
(1) The State Governments and local authorities are supposed to anticipate and
then prevent the cause of environmental degradation. They are supposed to
check the activity which is damaging for environment;
(2) Merely because there is a lack of scientific knowledge as to whether a
particular activity is causing degradation, it should not stand in the way of the
Government;
(3) The onus of proof is on the actor (i.e. person who does the activity) or the
developer/industrialist to show that the action was environmentally friendly.
In order to achieve the above, the following precautions are supposed to be
5
Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum vs Union Of India & Ors on 28 August, 1996

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 taken:
(i) The decision should be based on best possible scientific information and
analysis of risk;
(ii) Where there is uncertainty but potentially serious list exists, even then
precautionary measures are supposed to be taken;
(iii) Ecological impacts should be given paramount consideration, more so
when resources are non-renewable or where the result is irreversible;
(iv) The indication of the cost should be made known directly to the person who
if does not take precaution, can be called upon to meet the expense – a subject
which may fall under the head “polluter pays Ii principle.”

In Narmada Bachao Andolan v. Union of India6, the Apex Court explained that
“when there is a state of uncertainty due to lack of data or material about the
extent of damage or pollution likely to be caused, then in order to maintain
ecological balance, the burden of proof that the said balance will be maintained,
must necessarily be on the industry or the unit which is likely to cause
pollution.”
5. “Polluter Pays” Principle
All the member countries participating in the Organisation For Economic Co-
operation and Development (O.E.C.D.) agreed to incorporate in their
environmental policies the principle of 'polluter pays' so as to discourage
subsidies that could be detrimental for trade. They deemed this necessary for
the protection of environment and save the country from threats posed by
environmental pollution in modernised industrial societies. “Polluter Pays”
principle was considered to be one of the best methods for prevention of
environmental pollution. But there were practical difficulties in working out an
exact definition of the principle as there could be dispute as to the limits on
payment for damages caused and exact scope of the applicability of principle.

Despite these difficulties, the European Community in its Action Programme on

Environment had accepted the ‘polluter pays’ principle as a part of its strategy
on environmental matters. The principle Was incorporated in Article 130 R (2)
of the action programme which reads as follows:-
(i) Preventive action is always preferable to remedial action;
(ii) Environmental damage should be rectified at source;
(iii) The polluter should pay the costs of the measures taken to protect and
preserve the environment;
(iv) environmental policies should be a component of the European
Community’s other policies.
6
air 2000 sc 3751

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 Finally, the “polluter pays” principle was recognised as an integral part of the
sustainable development by the international community arid was incorporated
as Principle 16 of the Rio Declaration of Earth Summit, 1992. The principle
reads as follows :-
“Principle 16 National authorities should endeavour to promote the
internationalisation of environmental costs and the use of economic instruments
taking into account the approach that the polluter should in principle bear the
cost of pollution with due regard to the public interest and without distorting
international trade and investment.”

As a matter of fact, this principle was already accepted and included as

Principle 4 of the Stockholm Declaration in 1972 but it was legally and
internationally recognised as a substantive principle of environmental law under
Principle 16 of the Rio Declaration, 1992.

The Supreme Court in M.C. Mehta v, Kamal Nath7, observed that ‘polluter pays
principle has been recognised as fundamental objective of Government's
environmental policy to prevent and control pollution. The Court in this case
observed that the calculation of environmental damages should not be on the
basis of claim put forward by the party, but it should be on the basis of
examination of the situation by the Court, keeping in view the factors such as
deterrent nature of the award.

In Vellore Citizens’ Welfare Forum v. Union of India8, the Supreme Court

directed the Central Government to constitute an authority under Section 3 (3)
of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and confer on this authority all the
powers necessary to deal with the situation created by tanneries and other
polluting industries in the State of Tamil Nadu. The authority so constituted
shall implement the ‘precautionary principle’ and the ‘Polluter Pays Principle.’

6. Principle of Liability to help and Co-operate

This principle has been specifically incorporated in Rio-Declaration (1992) as
Principle 9 which provides that the States should co-operate to strengthen
indigenous capacity building for sustainable development by improving
scientific understanding through exchanges of scientific and technological
knowledge and by enhancing the development, adaptation, diffusion and
transfer of technologies including new and innovative technologies.
7
M.C. Mehta vs Kamal Nath & Ors on 13 December, 1996
8
Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum vs Union Of India & Ors on 28 August, 1996

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 Principle 10 of the Rio-Declaration further provides that environmental issues
are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens at the relevant
level. Emphasising the need for mutual cooperation in environmental matters,
Principle 12 requires the States to cooperate to promote a supportive and open
international economic system that would lead to economic growth and
sustainable development in all countries, in order to address the problem of
environmental degradation in a better way.

Finally, Principle 27 of the Rio Declaration expects people and the States to co-
operate in good faith and in a spirit of partnership in the future development of
international law in the field of sustainable development.

7. Poverty Eradication
Poverty is perhaps the worst contributing factor for polluting the environment
and causing its degradation. Smt. Indira Gandhi, the Late former Prime Minister
of India, addressing the Stockholm Conference on Human Environment in 1972
said, “of all pollutants we face, the worst is poverty”. The Brundtland Report
(1987) also attributed poverty as a potential cause of environmental degradation
as it reduces people’s capacity to use resources in a sustainable manner, which
eventually brings more pressure on environment and results into its
deterioration. Most of the developing countries’ are facing the problem of
poverty which is adversely affecting the environmental quality.

The Earth Summit, 1992 also projected that elimination of poverty was utmost
necessary for achieving the goal of sustainable development, particularly m the
developing countries.

India being a developing country, its more than 30 per cent people are living
below the poverty line. The pitiable condition 'of slum-dwellers, scaricity of
food, fuel, kerosene oil etc. are serious threats for environment. Due to lack of
residential, houses crores of poor men, women and children are compelled to
live in slums and even on road-side temporary hutment in most unsanitary
conditions without sufficient food and water. Thus, they have to live in
unwholesome environmental conditions. Therefore, India needs cooperation
and assistance from the developed countries to help and support the poverty
alleviation programme and maintenance of wholesome environmental
conditions.

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18
 Conclusion
It is true that in order to improve and protect the environment from pollution
sustainability must be there between environment and development. The concept
of sustainable development based on the notion that natural resources should be
exploited for the benefit of both present and future generation. As we know that
increased industrial activity worldwide requires the use of natural resources which
are depleting day by day. It is also true that the need for resource conservation,
efficient use of resources and environment friendly corporate policies and
behaviour has now been recognised worldwide. The country needs an
Environmental policy and planning, while being globally sensitive must be based
on local needs. Finally, if sustainable development has to move from mere wishful
thinking and slogan-mongering into a reality, the world (developed and
developing) as a whole has to move towards a new world order in which new
economic and technological orders are dovetailed. Such an order has to be aimed at
benefiting the poor because in the chain of sustainable development, the weakest
links are poverty and inequality. Last but not least, if the principles of sustainable
development are followed then definitely with the economic growth and industrial
development of a country environment protection can be maintained.

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 Bibliography
Primary Sources

 Principles of International Environmental Law – Philippe Sands &

Jacqueline Peel

Secondary Sources

 https://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1641/Sustainable-Development,-
Guiding-Principles-And-Values.html
 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/principle-sustainable-development-
environmental-imperatives-
 https://lawcorner.in/meaning-principles-and-goals-of-sustainable-
development-in-india/
 https://www.shiksha.com/online-courses/articles/principles-of-sustainable-
development/

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