Introduction

There are number of environmental laws

in the form of acts for safeguarding our
environmental quality. But we cannot
implement it strictly, still we are losing our
wild life and natural resources. There are so
many drawbacks and problems in
implementing environmental legislations.
 MEANING
 Environmental legislation means a plan of
action adopted by the government
rationalizing the course of action.
 The environmental legislation tries to enact
the all laws of environment in a justifiable
manner.
 It although varies from country or continent
focuses a common goal of secure and
sustainable living at earth.
Problems in enforcing the legislation
1. We have not achieved the target of
bringing 33% of our land cover under
forest.
2. We loss our wildlife continuously.
3. The air in towns is badly polluted.
4. The rivers are now opened to sewer.
5. There are many drawbacks in our
environmental laws and in their
implementation.
 Constitutional provisions
In Indian constitution, two articles are related to
environmental protection are:
Article 48-A of the constitution provides:
“ The state shall endeavour to protect and improve
the environmental and to safeguard forests and
wildlife of the country.”
Article 51A(g) provides:
“it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to
protect and improve the natural environment
including forest,lakes,rivers and wildlife and to have
compassion for living creatures.”
 Understanding the Context

• Government work is a public activity.

• a consitutional obligation to inform the public.

• Position DEA as offering Though Leadership

• Development communications demands active citizen involvement in

government programs – Development is about people

• Active engagement with citizenship ensures empowerment.

• An informed citizenry is a powerful citizenry

 Media Profile
• SA has over 561 magazines read by just over 12 million people
• Over 15 million South Africans read newspapers, with over 29
million of them listening to the radio
• SABC is the biggest media house in the country with 15 PBS radio
stations and 3 PCBS.
• We have over 123 community radio stations.
• Over 26 million South Africans watch TV
• Vuk’uzenzele has a print order of 1,6 million copies which are
circulated in all the nine provinces
 Strategic Objectives for Education &
Awareness
• Create and build a Human Resource capital for the
environment sector
• To inform the public and stakeholders about the
unique South African environment and its
importance
• To foster behavioural change and stimulate
environmental activism

• Educating the public about the policies and

programmes of the department
 Different Environment Protection
Efforts
• Ministry of Environment & Forests, 1986

• Eco-mark – GoI introduced Eco-labelling in 1991

called “Eco mark”.
• Symbol is a “Earthen Pitcher”.
• Eco mark is found on various
products like soaps and Detergent,
Food Items, Plastic Products, Architectural Paints,
cosmetics.
 Institutions
• World Health Organisation (WHO)
• Global Environment Facility (GEF)
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC)
• United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP)
• World Nature Organization (WNO)
• World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
 Case study: Successful
community action, Taiwan
 proposal in 2001 by EPA to build a 78 hectare disposal site for
industrial waste
 Community was concerned that the construction would
damage local economic development.
 Petition submitted to EPA saying that residents were against
the establishment of such a site
 Site was relocated
 EPA agreed not to proceed without community acceptance
Case study - environment awareness and behavior of
different citizen
In transboundary pollution treatment,the "big
blocks" loses to the “ protective umbrella”
On March 22nd,2002,the tenth World Water Day,a special trial was
holding in Zhejiang Changxing People's Court. The plaintiff is the fish
farmers in Changxing Si’an reservoir.They litigated Anhui Guangde
organic synthesis chemical plant onto the court to require the
compensation for the loss of the dead fish caused by pollution
reservoir.
After trial, the verdict is: the defendant compensate the plaintiff
617,500 yuan,and should pay it with 10 days after the commencement
of this decision. The fee of this case 11,185 yuan is charged on the
defendant.
Issues involved in enforcement
of environmental legislation,
public awareness
 INTRODUCTION
• The genesis of various legislations in the country lies in the
environmental problems. There should be effective
legislations to protect the environment or else the need for
resources Environmental Science by the growing population
will create havoc on the environment. The other important
aspect is enforcement of these laws. To safeguard our
environment from further degradation and pollution these
must be enforce laws forcefully and effectively.
 NEED FOR LEGISLATION
• In the recent past, numerous environmental problems have become
threatening for human welfare.
• An important aspect of environmental problems is that their impact is
not confined to the source area but spills over far and wide area.
• Effective legislation is needed in order to prevent misuse and
degradation of the environment.
• Pollution is an important factor and it does not observe political
territories or legislative jurisdictions.
• Thus environmental problems are intrinsically global in nature.
Therefore, to prevent such problems environmental legislation is not
needed only at the national level but also at the international level.
 ISSUES INVOLVED IN
ENFORCEMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION
• The precautionary principle

• The polluter-pays principle

• Freedom of information
 The precautionary principle
• This principle has evolved to deal with risks and uncertainties
faced by environmental management. The principle implies
that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure it does
not prevent problems but may reduce their occurrence and
helps ensure contingency plans are made.
• The application of this principle requires either cautious
progress until a development can be judged ‘innocent’, or
avoiding development until research indicates exactly what
the risks are, and then proceeding to minimize them.
• Once a threat is identified, action should be taken to prevent
or control damage even if there is uncertainly, about whether
the threat is real.
 The polluter-pays principle

• This principle, in fact, is more a way of allocating costs to the polluter

than a legal principle.
• This principle was adopted by OECD member countries in 1972, at least
in theory.
• The obvious the polluter pays for the damaged caused by a
development this principle also implies that a polluter pays for
monitoring and policing.
• A problem with this approach is that fines may bankrupt small
businesses, yet be low enough for a large company to write them off as
an occasional overhead, which does little for pollution control.
 Freedom of information

• Environmental planning and management is hindered if the

public, NGOs or even official bodies are unable to get
information.
• Many countries have now begun to release more
information, the USA has a Freedom of Information Act,
and the European Union is moving in this direction.
• But still many governors and multinational corporations
fear that industrial secrets will leak to competitors if there
is too much disclosure, and there are situations where
authorities declare strategic needs and suspend disclosure.
 Public awareness
• In cooperation with a professional research company, EELC will carry
out a survey on general awareness of environmental law among the
Estonian population.
• In addition to the survey, a qualitative study will be carried out.
Interviews with focus groups should provide answers to questions on
the impact practical experience with environmental law has had to
awareness of members of public and experience with obtaining and
using knowledge of environmental law.
• EELC will complement the final report of the study with its
recommendations on how to improve the awareness and the use of
knowledge in issues regulated by environmental law.
• The report with the recommendations will be made public on our
webpage by November 2013.
• The information will be useful for planning future training and
awareness programs, making them more specific and effective.
 We Can…..
• Be Nature Lovers, go for nature trails & treks.
• Visit Sanctuaries, National Parks
• Initiate/Participate in various environmental
Programmes
• Follow 3R- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
• Promote Car Pooling
• Encourage Tree Plantation - Indigenous Species.
• Be Responsible Citizens Avoid littering, Keep our
environment clean.
Thank you!