Environmental Decision Making Cycles in India
Background
On the suggestion of the Union Environment Minister, Shri. T. R. Baalu, ESG volunteered a paper reviewing the functioning of the Ministry of Environment and Forests during October 2000 for the Regional Offices Meeting. The specific focus of this paper was environmental decision making cycles in India, and their inconsistencies with the growing need for transparency, public involvement and technical competence in project impact review. The need to limit damage to the environment and reduce conflict by integrating participatory processes in the decision making cycle and evolve a rationale for ecologically sensitive industrial and infrastructure development is a major focus of ESG’s ongoing research.
ESG produced a recommendatory document proposing areas of reform in the functioning of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, at the behest of the Union Environment Minister. As a follow up to this initiative, ESG proposed to prepare a series of modules for training on environmental decision making steps so as to enable a campaign for reform of the laws, policies and guidelines in collaboration with NGOs, academics and regulatory agencies.