IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION & NEW TRADE REGIME ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES & LAWS OF INDIA
Dr.Md.Zafar Mahfooz Nomani
<zafarnomani@rediffmail.com>
Reader
Faculty of law
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh-202002
The impact on environment due to globalization and new trade regime needs to be continuously addressed in context of policies manifests in prescription and implication. This volatility of financial flows and trade are important factors in economic growth and environmental sustainability. The international trade arrangements under the World Trade Organization (WTO) and environmental agreements are important elements of the international enabling environment for sustainable development but they contain very few provision or mechanisms for harmonizing trade and environmental issues.
The new economic policies (NEP) and the structural adjustment program, implicated adversely on the living environment. While it is difficult to predict their impact with accuracy because of the complex interplay of various economic, social, political and ecological factors, it is possible to make some assessment based on past developmental trends in India. The drastic nature of the NEP package has understandably underscored natural environment conventional economists advocates an exploitable resource, and sink into which the effluents of affluence can be thrown. This view ignores the fact that for the vast majority of Indians, the natural environment forms the very basis of their subsistence economy. Forests, land and water bodies directly meet their food, water, housing, energy, medical, and cultural needs. The overwhelming impression we are left with that the NEP could lead to acceleration in the already deteriorating environmental situation and consequently further marginalization and alienation of communities that are already living in economically and ecologically vulnerable conditions. This includes the landless and the marginal farmers, the tribal and stakeholders of environment.
International cooperation in the areas of finance, trade and technology can strengthen the enabling environment for sustainable development. For some developing countries, particularly middle income countries, private financial flows are the largest source of external finance for sustainable development. The increasing tendency of trans national corporations to establish global standards for environmental performance enhances the contribution of FDI to sustainable development. An essential role for official development assistance (ODA) in development cooperation to address infrastructures development, social services, environmental protection and capacity building, in least developed countries and other developing countries in that have been bypassed by FDI.The Commission on Sustainable Development(CSD) urged creditor countries and international financial institutions to implement speedily the enhanced heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative. It is therefore important that donors and developing countries make concerted efforts to ensure that international assistance for technology transfer is demand driven, supporting investments that promote long-term sustainable development. India should identify priority sectors and industries in which technology transfer will produce the greatest long term benefits in economic growth, social development and environmental protection. Through the mechanism’s capacity building initiatives, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) helps to build developing countries’ capacities to benefit from investment opportunities for sustainable development while meeting climate change objectives. The Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 refers to national sustainable development strategies as important mechanisms for enhancing and linking national capacity so as to bring together priorities in social, economic and environmental policies. National sustainable development strategies provide an opportunity to put into practice common principles of strategic planning for sustainable development
These principles are already being applied in a number of developing countries, building on existing country level frameworks, such as national conservation strategies, national environment action plans, national visions and national agenda 21s and environmental policy and legal regimes. The substantial human and institutional resources required for the formulation of national sustainable development strategies and other country level development frameworks may impose a burden on national development strategies and frameworks. The mine principles promoted by the Global Compact are taken from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organization’s fundamental principles on rights at work, and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development all of which enjoy universal political support and a strong international legal foundation allows India to changing conditions in the enabling environment for sustainable development. Globalization has created a new impetus for international policy dialogue to promote sustainable development in all countries.
The globalization, integration of markets, mobility of capital and increased investment flows had created new opportunities, but the benefits and costs were unevenly distributed. The Indian environment continues to suffer from the loss of biodiversity, depletion of fish stocks, advancing desertification, worsening climate change, more frequent and devastating natural disasters and increasingly vulnerable developing countries. Committing themselves to build a humane, equitable and caring global society cognizant of the need for human dignity for all, the needs of human dignity for all, the heads of State and government assumed a collective responsibility to advance and strengthen the interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars of sustainable development economic development, social development and environmental protection at the national, regional and local levels. Before the global business community hijacks the environmental agenda, India should safeguard an open and non-discriminatory multilateral system through world market integration. This requires a synergy between the planning and policies with legal imperatives and statute framing. India has already undergone to massive reform of trade laws, intellectual property laws and environmental laws. These laws must reflect the environmental imperatives in the context of globalization and new economic regime in an already fragile economy and degraded environment.
RELEVENT LINKS:
www.field.org.uk
www.whrc.org
www.un.org
www.countercurrents.org
www.nyulawglobal.o rg
www.wcl.american.edu
www.inece.org
ww w.earthprint.com
www.ciel.org
www.sustainabledevelopment.in