Journal on Environmental Law, Policy and Development Vol-7 (2020)

1. Authors Prof. (Dr.) Sairam Bhat and Ms. Lianne D’Souza, NGT: A Tribunal in Trouble?. With 2020 marking ten years of the establishment of the National Green Tribunal, an insight into its functioning is imperative. Although to its credit, the NGT has passed a few remarkable orders, the Tribunal seems to have suffered a setback. The Supreme Court and various High Courts have acted in a manner setting the boundary limits for the NGT to function. The authors discuss the path breaking cases relating to Sterlite Industry and the Mantri Techzone and analysing that the tribunal is indeed in trouble.

2. Author Izuoma Egeruoh-Adindu, Climate Change Effects And Internal Displacement In Nigeria: Legal And Institutional Challenges. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) first assessment report in 1990 stated that the greatest single impact of climate change may be on internal displacement and migration.  The report estimated that by 2050, more than 150 million people could be displaced by floods, desertification, water scarcity, storms and other climate change-related disasters.   Over 30 years after, the socio-economic impacts of climate change is being felt and the risk of constant displacement of human beings by natural disaster is 60% higher than estimated by the panel. Accordingly, records from the National Commission for Refugees Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) as at date shows that about 2,200,000 Nigerians are internally displaced. However, scholars and researchers have accepted the fact that climate change is the major reason for this number and will result in large-scale movement and displacement of people. Research shows that developing countries like Nigeria will bear the greatest costs, as a result of constant emission of greenhouse gases through increased human activities which are the foremost causes of climate change in these regions. Considering the prevalence of flood and other natural disaster in Nigeria, mitigating internal displacement that arise afterwards is paramount. To achieve this goal, the study identifies the need for synergy and expansion of the mandates of the institutional stakeholders to reflect the recommendations of this research. The paper, using doctrinal research methodology seeks to underscore the role of law in achieving the aim of this research.

3. Author Kudrat-E-Khuda’s, Inter-relationship between Environment and Human Rights: An Overview on Legal Context. Every year more than two million people met the tragic end of their lives across the world for different causes. Thousands of individuals suffer from pollution-related illnesses. Ecosystems, for water scarcity, improper management of natural disasters, and disposal of toxic and hazardous products are degrading across the world due to environmental pollution. Climate change has an adverse impact on human health. These facts indicate that environmental and human-rights are closely related. The UN attempts to tackle environmental issues-the Stockholm and Rio Declaration-illustrate the importance of the link between human rights and dignity, and the environment. Already 69 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have been passed but human rights are still facing serious crisis. This crisis impacts on environment and human right to the environment. The article aims to focus the environmental concerns in human rights discourse; to explore the relationship between human rights and environmental rights in light of the worsening global environmental situation, and to encourage the excellent practices pertaining to implementation of human rights obligations and responsibilities for informing and strengthening the development of overall environmental issues. The article makes use of secondary data like books, articles, and different national and international law reports.

4. Authors Dr. M.P. Chengappa and Nishita Shrivastava’s, Assessment of Climate Action Plan in India: A Perspective of Green Federalism. The extension of the concept of Federalism for the protection of the environment & combating climate change is gaining admiration in the present century. With the rising concerns relating to global warming, climate change, and environmental degradation, the need for rectifying the problem at the grass-root level has been felt. Though climate change and ecological degradation is a global menace for which the countries are joining hands to fight for, it is at the grass-root level the affirmative actions are needed to be implemented. The concept of green Federalism recognizes that it is shared and collective responsibility of center, state, and local bodies to act towards protection of environment & climate change. Thus, for environment protection and address issues of climate change, it calls for the decentralization of power and policies relating to the environmental safeguards and protection between multi-level governmental bodies starting from the center, state, municipal and panchayat level. This can only be possible if there is a devolution of power and shared responsibilities between the center, states, and local bodies. Particularly with the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, which devolves power further from the center and states to the panchayats and municipalities, the hazard of rising global temperature and climate change can be very well addressed by adopting bottom to top approach.

This paper, therefore, delves into critically analyze the state climate action plans adopted currently on the touchstone of the federal structure of the country. Moving ahead, the paper put forth the idea of ‘green federalism’ as a last resort to fight climate change and argues for the greater involvement of local bodies and people to combat the menace of climate change. The paper, therefore, proposes to integrate climate action concerns into existing machinery at the grass-root level to ensure that the action against climate change can be taken by the active participation of municipalities, village panchayats, and the public at large.

5. Authors Dr. Shelley Ghosh’s, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies of India for Implementing Paris Goals-A Critical Analysis explores how India aims to implement its mitigation and adaptation strategies as is reported in its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) Report submitted to UNFCCC as a part of its commitment to the Paris Agreement. The paper also highlights India’s limitations and critically explores the possibility of successful implementation of its INDC post 2020.

6. Authors Nishant Kumar and Deepak Kumar’s, Role of UN vis-a-vis ASEAN to Combat Transboundary Environmental Damage: A Case Study of Implementation of Good International Practices. A cornerstone and cardinal principle of international environmental law is that states are under an obligation not to cause harm to the environment of other states, or to the areas beyond national jurisdiction. The essence of this obligation, often referred to as the no-harm rule or the prohibition of transboundary environmental harm, is that states may not either conduct or permit activities within their territories, or in common spaces, without regard to other states or for the protection of the global environment. The aim of this study is to provide an analysis of the contribution of the ASEAN, United Nation organisation (UNO) along with International Court of Justice (ICJ) to the development of the consensus and cooperation concerning transboundary environmental harm among ASEAN members. In attempt to seek above said aims and objectives, this study would also attempt to answer following research questions with the help of relevant international jurisprudence, primarily from the UNO, ICJ and ASEAN Co-operation Plan on Transboundary Pollution.

– What is meant by transboundary environmental damage?

– Does the rule apply to all types of damage, or only to damage that exceeds a certain threshold? Furthermore, does the rule require that all harm exceeding the current threshold is prevented, or is there a standard of care which, if the source state meets it, may free the same state from responsibility for harm?

– If so, what is required by states in terms of conduct under the standard of care? Is the standard differentiated, i.e., lower for developing states? 

7. Authors Amruta Das and Madhusudan Dash, Environment, Biodiversity and Intellectual Property Rights: Need for a Harmonious Ecosystem. Biodiversity has been the primary source of livelihood with richness of diverse plant species catering to human consumption and economic development of the nation. Science and technology galvanized human intervention resulting either in great innovations or abuse of biodiversity. Biotechnology in agriculture led a pivotal role in unlocking immense possibilities (tangible and intangible) for Intellectual property protection, however, ethical, socio-legal concerns on patenting of life forms and effect on public health remaining debatable. Commodificaion of bio-resources by external actors for profit making is criticized as misuse and illegal use of traditional knowledge. Globally, bio resources and biodiversity-related knowledge is regulated through national regulatory laws and permission contracts as a measure to promote fair and equitable access, benefit sharing and sustainable use amongst stakeholders justifying belongingness of the common heritage and customary practices. Developing countries often experience exploitation as donor-exporter of bio-resources and repository of traditional knowledge being misappropriated either under restrictive trade contracts or otherwise illegal gateways. In the 1980s, monopolistic restrictions have been extended to microorganism and genetic modified species with the  U.S. Supreme Court’s legitimizing  Ananda Chakrabarty’s (Diamond v. Chakrabarty, 447 U.S. 303 (1980)claim for a genetically engineered bacterial strain and opening up windows for research and investment in pharmaceuticals, agro industries, while legality of access, misappropriation, public health remain debatable . This paper tries to study the convergence of biodiversity with Intellectual property rights, international regulatory standards and India’s defense in justifying national obligations vis-à-vis compelling pressure of developed economies.

8. Author Ashutosh Raj Anand on, Emphasizing Sendai Framework Mandates on Disaster Risk Reduction in the wake of Covid – 19, explores the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction emphasizing the Sendai Framework and attempts to delineate its relevancy in the present crisis and in promoting avowed principles of sustainable development.

9. Authors Saksham Mahajan and Manas Aggarwal’s on Bio-Medical Waste Management: A Social Responsibility and a Legal Necessity. The rampant mismanagement in handling bio-medical waste, often reported proves for the lackadaisical implementation of rules along with violation of environmental laws including flouting of constitutional provisions. The Indian Express (29 November, 2019) recently reported, an aborted foetus, half-eaten by a cat to be discovered lying in the premises of KEM Hospital, Mumbai. Bio-medical waste forms a part of the hospital waste generated and includes materials like human and anatomical waste, blood soiled cotton, discarded medicines etc. Given the nature of such waste, it is highly hazardous and infectious and poses serious threats upon human health and ecology until disposed properly. Proper and safe disposal of hazardous medical waste remains a problem for the authorities and hospitals across the country. In order to ensure the effective disposal of such hazardous waste materials and to avoid its perilous impacts, under the powers conferred by the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Central Government formulated the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 1998 which have been last amended in the year 2016 for the management and handling of bio-medical waste. In the light of the coronavirus pandemic, which demands hygiene and sanitation as a precaution, proper waste management across the country is quintessential to prevent the outbreak from further spreading.

Thus, at this juncture, this paper aims at critically analysing the 2016 rules and thereby highlight the faults and fissures in the law regulating bio-medical waste, the institutional framework, lack of political will, absence of checks and balances and regulatory mechanism etc., all of it contributing towards a grave and serious situation. The paper further examines bio-medical waste management focussing on the city of Mumbai, to realise the immediate need for serious action to be taken to minimise the perilous impacts on human health and environment.

10. Author P.L. Sundar on, Offshore Wind Energy in India: Legal Regulatory Mechanisms, provides a comprehensive picture about the policy governing the offshore wind energy sector in India mainly from an environmental aspect and further touches on intricacies of onshore wind energy to draw up similar trends that could be extrapolated. The article also explores the prospective technological developments and practices that are emerging in other economies that could shape the framework in India. The article suggests measures to mitigate or avoid the impact of offshore wind energy technology on the biodiversity and environment and explores the different trends of siting employed in other economies on various factors. It makes a critical observation on the clearances required for wind energy projects and clarifies the categorization of” offshore wind energy” projects.

11. Author Prof. (Dr.) M.K. Ramesh has contributed book-reviews on the titles Nature Conservation in the New Economy: People, Wildlife and the Law in India and Post-Growth Thinking in India: Towards Sustainable Egalitarian Alternatives, that seek to enthral the reader to plunge into the same.

12. Author Prof. G.B. Reddy in his Book Review on Idea and Methods of Research, succinctly delves into the contours of best practices to research methodology discussed in the book, evoking the curiosity in the minds of readers.

Editorial Board:

Patron 
Prof. (Dr.) M.K. Ramesh
Professor of Law,
National Law School of India University, Bengaluru
 
Chief Editor
Prof.(Dr.) Sairam Bhat
Professor of Law & Coordinator
Centre for Environmental Law, Education, Research and Advocacy
National Law School of India University, Bengaluru
 
Editorial Advisory Board
 
1. PROF. (DR.) ARMIN ROSENCRANZ Dean, Jindal School of Environment and Sustainability, Jindal Global University
2. SHRI SHYAM DIVAN Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India
3. PROF. (DR.) S. SHANTHAKUMAR Director, Gujarat National Law University
4. PROF. (DR.) KIRKW.JUNKER Faculty of Law, University of Cologne
5. PROF. (DR.) JOLYON FORD Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, The Australian National University
 
Editorial Assistance Board:
1. Mr. Rohith Kamath, Ph.D Scholar and Consultant, CEERA, NLSIU
2. Ms. Madhubanti Sadhya, Teaching Associate, CEERA, NLSIU
3. Mr. Raghav Parthasarathy, Teaching Associate, CEERA, NLSIU
4. Mr. Vikas Gahlot, Teaching Associate, CEERA, NLSIU
5. Ms. Geethanjali K.V. Legal Associate, CEERA, NLSIU
6. Ms. Lianne D’Souza, Research Fellow, CEERA, NLSIU
Contact: Manuscripts as well as questions should be submitted to the Editor at: ceera@nls.ac.in
 

What to Submit?
1. Long Articles (5000-8000 words, exclusive of footnotes).
2. Short Articles (3000 -5000 words, exclusive of footnotes).
3. Case Comments, Legislative Briefs, Law Commission Report/Review (1500-2500 words, exclusive of footnotes).
4. Book Review (700-1500 words, exclusive of footnotes).

How to submit?
1. All submissions must have a concise title with a maximum of 70 characters.
2. Submissions made under the category of articles must contain an abstract of not more than 200 words along with a maximum of 5 keywords.
 
Formatting Guidelines
1. The paper should be free from all grammatical and spelling errors.
2. The submission must be word-processed and in Times New Roman. The main text should be in font size 12 and footnotes in font size 10, line spacing 1.5 and the text should be justified.
3. A one line gap must be maintained between all paragraphs and headings.
4. All hyperlinks must be in black colour and must not be underlined.
5. Heading levels should be clearly indicated.
6. Citations should appear as footnotes that are numbered consecutively. The Journal does not accept in-text citations and endnotes.
7. Tables, if included should be self-explanatory, numbered serially and accompanied by concise titles and sources.
8. Figures and images if included should be submitted in a separate file along with the manuscript in word format (.doc). Images and figures taken from external sources should be adequately captioned; sources acknowledged and should be of high resolution.
9. The manuscript must not contain the name of the author(s) or his/her institutional affiliation or any other information. A separate cover letter containing the name of the author(s), professional information, contact details, and other relevant information must be provided.
10. Only articles in English will be considered for publication.
11. Manuscripts submitted shall be understood as final versions, subject to subsequent corrections suggested by the Editor.
12.  Manuscripts should be submitted electronically, in Word format, via e-mail to ceera@nls.ac.in or submitted through our website – Submission | National Law School of India University (ceerapub.nls.ac.in).
13. Manuscripts submitted to this Journal must not have been published elsewhere previously. If during the review process, the manuscript is accepted for publication in any other Journal; Book; any other format, including electronically, the responsibility shall solely lie on the author to immediately inform the Editor and withdraw the manuscript from the review process.
14. On acceptance of any manuscript for publication, the author would be required to sign a ‘Consent to Publish and Grant of Exclusive Licence’ form.
15. For further information on style, see the CEERA Style Guide here.
16. Non-conformity with the submission guidelines will be a ground for rejection.
 
Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Confidentiality
Editor, Editorial Board and the Advisory Board shall ensure that the manuscript submitted for review shall remain confidential while under review. Unpublished manuscripts undergoing review and the ones rejected would not be used by the Editor, Editorial Board, Reviewers or the Advisory Board in any way for the personal advantage of the Editorial Team without the written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review would be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

Duties of Editor and Reviewers
1. It shall be the responsibility of the Editor to ensure that the peer review process is fair, unbiased, and timely.
2. The editor shall select reviewers for the manuscripts submitted based on their expertise in the relevant field, keeping in mind the need for diverse and inclusive representation. 
3. Any submission made by the Editor or members of the Editorial Board shall be subject to the usual review processes of the Journal independent of the involvement of the relevant author or editor in question. The editor shall not be involved in decisions about papers which s/he has written him/herself or have been written by family members or colleagues or which relate to products or services in which the editor has an interest. A statement of this effect shall be clearly mentioned in any such submission that is published.
4. Reviewers shall bring to the notice of the Editor any suspicion of any breach of research ethics or misconduct, if any.
5. Reviewers shall bring to the notice of the Editor any potential conflicts of interest resulting from any relationship, professional or personal with any of the authors or institutions connected to the manuscripts submitted and recues himself or herself from reviewing the manuscripts in question.

Breach of Ethics
1. All cases of alleged misconduct and breach of research ethics shall be dealt with in an unbiased and objective manner.
2. The Editor and the Editorial Board would not out rightly reject submissions that raise concerns about possible misconduct. All alleged cases of misconduct shall be dealt with ethically and an opportunity of being heard and to file justifications and clarifications would be given to the author against whom allegation of misconduct has been raised and other affected parties.
3. Any allegation of plagiarism or publication misconduct raised by a third party would be dealt with after seeking clarifications from the original authors. The Editor reserves the right to not proceed against such allegations if deemed appropriate.
4. The Editor would be willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when needed.
Duties of Authors

Authorship
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the manuscript submitted.

Originality, acknowledgement of sources and plagiarism
1. Manuscripts submitted should be original work of the author(s). Any work or words of others including tables, images and figures used in the manuscript must be appropriately cited or quoted, acknowledged and captioned with permission, where necessary.
2. All citations, references and quotations must be verified before submission of the manuscript. All references should be carefully checked for completeness, accuracy and consistency. The accuracy of references is the responsibility of the author. Incorrect references and citations may be a ground for rejection of the manuscript.
3. Verbatim copying, paraphrasing without attribution, self plagiarism of the author’s previous work without due acknowledgement would be deemed as misconduct and dealt with accordingly

Notification of errors and competing interests –
1. All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work or that may be construed to influence the interpretation of their submissions. Authors must disclose any interests in the title page file of the manuscript. If there are no interests to declare then the authors must state: “Declarations of interest: None”.
2. All sources of financial support, received if any in the conception, design or conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article should be disclosed.
3. Authors shall be obliged to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes or any significant inaccuracy in their published work or manuscript under review, in case of detection as soon as they come to their notice or are informed of the same. Such corrections shall be promptly notified to the journal Editor.
 
Copyright
Publication in the journal would be subject to authors signing a ‘Consent to Publish and Grant of Exclusive Licence form. By signing the Form, authors would have to warrant and represent that their manuscripts submitted to the journal have not be published elsewhere in whole or in part; that it is the original work of the author(s) and all the material taken from other sources have been duly cited and acknowledged by the author(s); that NLSIU shall be indemnified in case of any copyright violations; and that the views contained in the manuscripts are solely the views of the author(s) and shall in no way be construed as the views of the Editors, CEERA, and NLSIU, either jointly or severally.

                                               CODE OF RESEARCH ETHICS, INTEGRITY AND SUBMISSION POLICY (CRISP)
                            FOR THE JOURNAL ON ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, POLICY AND DEVELOPMENT (JELPD) ISSN: 2438-7046
 
CEERA, NLSIU follows strict ethical standards for publication to ensure integrity, quality and standard in all its research publications. All submissions made to the journal shall be governed by the following policy

RESEARCH ETHICS AND INTEGRITY:

Editorial and Review Process

Each manuscript would go through a double blind peer review process by the Editor and Editorial Board. After review, the manuscripts may be sent to the authors for necessary additions or corrections with respect to the style or content, which must be carried out by the authors within the timeline stipulated. Authors would be provided with PDF proofs of their manuscripts with instructions about additions and corrections and timely information about the ongoing review process.

Editorial Decisions

Editors’ decisions to accept or reject a manuscript for publication would be solely based on the manuscript’s intellectual content, originality, quality, clarity of thought and expression, and adherence to the specific theme identified for a volume, if any.  The Editorial Team reserves the right to ask authors to carry out changes to the manuscript (multiple times if required); accept the submission for review and reject the submission. The editor shall ensure that the peer review process is fair, unbiased, and timely.  Research articles would be reviewed by at least two expert reviewers, and where necessary the Editor may seek additional opinions from the Advisory Board. Decision of the Editor regarding acceptance or rejection of a manuscript shall be final and binding.