ELEMENTS OF GOOD ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE

- M. K. Ramesh

Ideas cast a spell on humanity, from time to time. Periodicity and duration of their impact depend upon the felt need and the intensity with which generations of people experience their application. Over the ashes of the second World War, an institution for peace was constructed to "save the succeeding generations from the scourge of war". International peace, security and co-operation were the buzzwords at the inauguration of the United Nations organisation. A few years hence, human rights caught the imagination of people. This manifested in various shapes, forms colours and configurations. Political, civil, social, economic and cultural rights and their variants like women's rights and rights of children, ruled the roost for quite a while. Sixties heralded the consumer movement and we began to believe in consumer as the "king". In the last three decades, the wave of "environmentalism", has swept every aspect of our lives. As we enter the new millennium, people are gung ho about "Good Governance". Finiteness of space available for human existence, fragility of earth's environment, unplanned development and injudicious use of resources, have plunged humanity into a twirl. The magnitude of the environmental crisis, that we are in, has made all the concerned worry about the future of humanity itself. The cry of anguish and the craving now is for "Good Environmental Governance", if not for anything else, atleast for the survival of humanity itself.

What would constitute, "Good Environmental Governance?" It may be worthwhile to pursue an answer to this question, as such an enquiry, it is hoped, would both inform and influence the policy makers, law makers and law enforcers in evolving and working a legal order towards better Environmental management.

Principles of Good Environmental Governance:

Succinctly put, good environmental governance is all about use of resources to meet the "need" and not succumbing to the "greed" as, n the words of Mahatma Gandhi, the earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not for every man's greed".

Simple words, and profound significance. They acknowledge the need for exploitation of resources of earth to enable humanity survive and live well. In the same breath, a word of caution is sounded as well, that the resources are not inexhaustible, that are carrying capacity of mother earth is limited and that it can satisfy only the basic minium requirements of humanity. Logically, the expectation, nay the clarion call, is for exercise, of restraint and careful planning in accessing, using and exploiting the limited boundary of nature, so as not to exhaust it. For, nature without its resources, spells doom not only for humanity but snuffs out every conceivable form of life from the surface of earth - the only known place having the environment for life, in any form, to exist.

From the Gandhian postulation, the ground rules for good environmental governance could be constructed as under:

1) CONSERVATION: Preservation and nurturing the vital resources, that still remain, is the sine qua non for good environmental management. Conservation as an idea is not merely confined to retaining whatever that is left, but involves a whole range of activities aimed at rejuvenation and propagation.

2) PROTECTION: Securing the resource and insulating it from any shocks of destruction and degradation is in contemplation here.

3) NON-DEGRADATION: Ensuring the intrinsic quality of the resources is not lost, while putting the same to use, constitutes the basic tenet of proper and scientific resource use.

4) ADMINISTRATION, that is TRANSPARENT, ACCOUNTABLE and PARTICIPATORY is a major requirement. This acknowledges the fact that the resources cannot be managed from above and finding local solutions to environmental problems would ensure effective and efficient environmental management.

5) LAW, POLICY AND PRACTICE in environmental management should emerge from and evolve out of people's needs and compulsions and be the result of crystallised home spun wisdom.

6) EQUITABLE SHARING OF BENEFITS is another underlying principle of good environmental governance, and

7) CONFLICT AVOIDANCE AND CONSENSUS BUILDING THROUGH CONSULTATIVE PROCESSES in Environmental decision-making is the crowning aspect of the system of administration. The litmus test for the existence of a healthy and wholesome environment, in any system, depends upon the internalisation of these principles in the legal ordering. Whether the Indian Legal system conforms to this requirement? - is a question, that needs exploration.