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Our #TwitterTakeover with @PKashwan and @arpithakodiveri has begun!
They will be discussing state accountability in environmental governance.
Join the conversation and send us your questions in Hindi, Kannada or English, in the comment section.
Our #TwitterTakeover with @PKashwan and @arpithakodiveri has begun!
They will be discussing state accountability in environmental governance.
Join the conversation and send us your questions in Hindi, Kannada or English, in the comment section.
The Forest Rights Act creates divided jurisdiction in environmental governance. Ministry of Tribal Affairs, which implements the FRA enjoys statutory powers to hold the MoEFCC accountable, including for environmental clearances. | @PKashwan, @arpithakodiveri
The FRA requires that govt agencies seek consent from the gram sabha for infrastructure projects, which infringe on community forest rights they enjoy.
This is an example of the devolution of environmental regulation. @PKashwan, @arpithakodiveri https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/openglobalrights-openpage/indias-environmental-flashpoints/
This is an example of the devolution of environmental regulation. @PKashwan, @arpithakodiveri https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/openglobalrights-openpage/indias-environmental-flashpoints/
#FRA’s regulatory influence goes beyond the local level. Because of its responsibility in enforcing the FRA, MOTA enjoys powers to enforce environmental regulations. This is extremely important in light of the recent attempts by MOEFCC to dilute the #EIA. https://thebastion.co.in/politics-and/shrinking-negotiations-how-the-draft-eia-2020-is-affecting-public-consultations-on-development/
Take another recent example: As my research predicted in 2015, without mass mobilization, urban conservation groups failed to stall the diversion of large areas of biodiverse forests for Ken-Betwa river interlinking project in central India. | @PKashwan https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296689768_Power_asymmetries_and_institutions_landscape_conservation_in_central_India/
Ironically, the Ken-Betwa link will do little to alleviate water scarcity in Bundelkhand. So, the talks of environment & development tradeoffs is really an excuse to promote projects that benefit developers & industries at the cost of the larger society and the environment.
The FRA provides procedural & substantive rights to both MOTA and Gram Sabhas that can act as a check against environmentally destructive infrastructure projects. Instead of strengthening these accountability measures, the MOEFCC has sought to dilute them. https://www.epw.in/engage/article/who-will-guard-guardians-state-accountability
In many cases, the MOEF and state forest department disregard the stronger regulatory measures of the FRA, while relying on the outdated 19th century forest laws that are good for neither forests nor the forest-dependent people, who can be strong allies. https://www.academia.edu/43233570/Wildlife_First_People_Later
The state agencies seek to use the FRA as a red-tape instrument for approving mining projects, while doing little to recognizing the statutory rights recognized under the FRA or to bring forest-dwellers into the decision-making process.
https://global-uploads.webflow.com/5d70c9269b8d7bd25d8b1696/5ecd0c9634031c3d63187852_07-09-Kodiveri-999_paper.pdf
https://global-uploads.webflow.com/5d70c9269b8d7bd25d8b1696/5ecd0c9634031c3d63187852_07-09-Kodiveri-999_paper.pdf
Crony capitalism is the biggest threat to the environment: The problem is the govt’s fetish with economic growth at all costs. They undermine FRA’s accountability mechanisms for quick and speedy clearances via single-window clearance mechanisms. https://thewire.in/business/odishas-single-window-clearance-system-compromise-ease-business
Discretionary powers granted under the colonial-era laws are used by the pro-business bureaucracy to bypass FRA’s pro-environmental and socially just provisions. This is accomplished by the creation of legal exceptions, such as the land banks. https://lawschoolpolicyreview.com/2018/11/08/land-banks-unsettled-law-undetermined-rights/
What evidence is there to support this contention? I looked at how India, Tanzania, & Mexico implemented the global policies related to the distribution of the benefits of forest-based climate mitigation efforts. Indian policies are the weakest. @PKashwan https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281469392_Forest_Policy_Institutions_and_REDD_in_India_Tanzania_and_Mexico
Similar effects also occur at the local level. The dominance of forest department makes it oblivious to the need for winning support among local communities & other constituencies, which undermines conservation in MP’s famed Kanha & Panna National Parks. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296689768_Power_asymmetries_and_institutions_landscape_conservation_in_central_India/
At times, courts have pushed the executive to address regulatory failures, especially under pressure from alert environmental advocates & groups. However, courts have been unreliable guardians of the environment and environmental human rights obligations of the Indian government.
Follow the link to read my research on the same. @arpithakodiveri https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328784107_Alternative_Futures_India_Unshackled_free_download_of_full_book
Even a strong judgement such as in the #Niyamgiri case, failed to set a strong judicial precedence. Since then, there's just one more case where the state listened to the forest-dependent people, who refused consent on social and environmental grounds https://www.academia.edu/43233570/Wildlife_First_People_Later
PILs have also become a dangerous avenue for reinforcing exclusionary conservation paradigms that has been a source of injustice for forest-dwelling communities see for instance the Wildlife First case https://www.academia.edu/43233570/Wildlife_First_People_Later
The EIA amendments & the Farm Laws enacted recently are in violation of the procedural & substantive rights recognized under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants & Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) – they will also harm the environment. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13642987.2021.1874940
The #EIANotification of 2020 has exempted a number of projects from the requirement of a public hearing as many as 14 new ones like expansion and widening of state and national highways. Read more here https://thebastion.co.in/politics-and/shrinking-negotiations-how-the-draft-eia-2020-is-affecting-public-consultations-on-development/
Environment is not just a luxury –it's also a life & death question for millions of people affected by floods, storms, heat waves, & other disasters like the recent one in #Uttarakhand. We failed to learn from the 2013 disaster in the Himalayas that took away more than 5740 lives
Some environmentalists & philosophers demand that non-human species, river, & mother nature must be given legal rights. However, legal rights are not a panacea because their enforcement also requires holding powerful state & market actors accountable. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348716357_Rights_Of_Nature
Conservationists & the MOEFCC claim to speak for the wildlife. But, there is no evidence that the fines & fences approach they promote helps the cause of wildlife & biodiversity conservation. Don’t believe us? Ask the tiger: https://thewire.in/environment/forest-agencies-conservation-fra
Environmental and resources conflicts if often attached to very serious human rights violations. Considering the gravity of the problem, the United Nations has recognized environmental human rights defenders as a new category globally. https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/environmental-rights-and-governance/what-we-do/advancing-environmental-rights/who
The safety of environmental defenders is also a major concern in India, they are often arrested on false criminal charges. That’s a shame because they make personal sacrifices to demand environmental protection and public accountability.
https://nlsir.com/who-killed-berta-caceres-dams-death-squads-and-an-indigenous-leaders-battle-for-the-planet-by-nina-lakhani-a-review/
https://nlsir.com/who-killed-berta-caceres-dams-death-squads-and-an-indigenous-leaders-battle-for-the-planet-by-nina-lakhani-a-review/
सरकार की जवाबदेही के लिए जरूरी है कि शक्तिशाली सरकारी व निजी संस्थाओं के कामों और उनकी कार्य प्रणाली पर पैनी नजर रखी जाए । जनता की भागीदारी के बिना पर्यावरण की सुरक्षा संभव नहीं है। इन विषयों पर गहन चर्चा के लिए डा० कसवां का यह साक्षात्कार सुन सकते हैं
पर्यावरण सुरक्षा सामाजिक न्याय का गहरा संबंध है। शोध यह कहता है कि सामाजिक स्थान के बिना पर्यावरण की सुरक्षा करना बेहद मुश्किल है। और यह पर्यावरण सुरक्षा के सभी मुद्दों के लिए लागू होता है। पर्यावरण न्याय के बारे में ज्यादा विस्तार से जानने के लिए पढ़ें https://www.bbc.com/hindi/india-55315823
ನಮ್ಮ ಪರಿಸರವನ್ನು ರಕ್ಷಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ ಎಂದು ನಾಗರಿಕರಾದ ನಾವು ಹೇಗೆ ಖಚಿತಪಡಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಬಹುದು? ನಮ್ಮ ಆಡಳಿತ ಕಾರ್ಯವಿಧಾನಗಳು ಹೇಗೆ ಕಾರ್ಯನಿರ್ವಹಿಸುತ್ತಿವೆ?
ನಮ್ಮ ನೈಸರ್ಗಿಕ ಸಂಪನ್ಮೂಲಗಳನ್ನು ಹೇಗೆ ಬಳಸುತ್ತಾರೆ ಎಂಬುದರ ಕುರಿತು ನಾಗರಿಕರಾಗಿ ಸರ್ಕಾರವು ನಮಗೆ ಜವಾಬ್ದಾರವಾಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಇನ್ನೂ ಸರ್ಕಾರವು ವ್ಯವಹಾರವನ್ನು ಸುಲಭಗೊಳಿಸುವ ಹೆಸರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಹೊಣೆಗಾರಿಕೆಯ ಕ್ರಮಗಳನ್ನು ದುರ್ಬಲಗೊಳಿಸುತ್ತಿದೆ
Some international conservation organizations speak the language of rights but continue to support exclusionary conservation and govt. agencies engaged in human rights violation. Supporters in the Global North must hold these conservation NGOs accountable.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257098594_The_politics_of_rights-based_approaches_in_conservation
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257098594_The_politics_of_rights-based_approaches_in_conservation
Theories of public administration tell us that agencies seek greater regulatory authority because that is their source of power. Why is the Ministry of Env, Forests, & Climate Change (MOEFCC) diluting its environmental regulatory powers, while expediting environmental clearances?
That’s because neither political leadership nor career forest service officers (IFS) have strong incentives to demand & enforce stronger environmental regulations. The point about political leadership is too self-evident to need any elaboration; of course, with some exceptions.
The IFS need stronger regulatory interests, esp. because many of them are personally devoted to environmental conservation. But the structure of India's forest laws creates perverse incentives for the IFS to focus on controlling 22% of India’s landmass defined as "forests."
This is because the ability of the IFS & state forest departments to secure larger financial allocations & attract international funding is directly linked to their territorial control over more than 1/5th of India’s landmass. Corrupt politicians help them escape accountability.
So, one main difference is between a territorial versus a ‘regulatory’ approach to forestry. Territorial powers that the IFS enjoy is a source of corruption & it is a disincentive for pursuing stronger regulations. But, the grave social & political inequalities also play a role.
Adivasis/social activists who campaign for stronger environmental protections, & against industrial projects have been jailed. Things are really bad now, but were not dramatically different in past. No rule of law, no accountability, how do you protect the environment? You can’t!
Environmentalists must stand in solidarity with human rights activists, not just because it's absolutely the right thing to do. Such solidarities strengthen demands for public accountability, which is crucial for effective environmental protections. Read: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348447533_The_UN_Declaration_on_the_Rights_of_Peasants_National_Policies_and_Forestland_Rights_of_India%27s_Adivasis
For an extensive & rigorous analysis of why some societies successfully balance the goals of environmental protection & social justice, while others fail to do so, see @PKashwan's book Democracy in the Woods from Oxford University Press. S. Asia edition: https://www.amazon.in/Democracy-Woods-Environmental-Conservation-Tanzania/dp/0190053313/
