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This paper examines India's environmental policies and budget allocations from 2016–2024, revealing a focus on infrastructure that may overshadow environmental conservation. Significant discrepancies between policy rhetoric and budgetary commitments suggest that there is a need for realignment. Advocating an 'environment-centric' approach, the study calls for increased budgetary commitments to environmental protection, a strategic shift away from fossil fuels, and stringent regulatory oversight, all essential to ensure sustainable development in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of plastics in the 20th century revolutionized modern life but inadvertently exacerbated the marine litter crisis. The proliferation of wastes such as single-use plastics has escalated pollution along the coastline, demanding coordinated, decisive, and unified action. While the absence of specific national marine litter policies is concerning, there is growing recognition of urgency to address this issue. A group of experts and stakeholders was involved through a multi-staged workshop to assess the generated information based on scientific evidence and formulate a framework for the National Marine Litter Policy (NMLP). This paper proposes policy options (4 targets & 20 strategies) to address marine litter pollution, especially plastics, and aims to elucidate the urgency and significance of implementing an NMLP as a comprehensive strategy to combat plastics pollution. Implementing dedicated policies and action plans tailored to the unique challenges faced by each country is a vital step towards sustainable oceans., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Thoroughly assessing the owners and distribution of stranded assets in a 2 °C scenario is essential to anticipate climate policy resistance. We employ novel data to analyze owners and incidence of asset stranding in the power sector globally. We show that Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the US are highly exposed to stranded assets, especially coal plants. Stranded assets are highly concentrated in a few asset owners in some countries (e.g., India). Even if owners are more equally exposed (e.g., in the US) they can vary considerably in the asset stranding timing due to differences in plant fleets' age profile. European, US, and Chinese asset owners own large shares of stranded coal plants abroad. Listed owners may face stranded assets of up to 78% of their share price or more than 80% of their equity. Asset stranding exposure positively correlates with ownership of alternative energy assets. India stands out owning many stranded assets but little alternative energy., (© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.)

India has seen some of the most damaging social and environmental effects of air pollution in recent times. It has also committed at the COP 21 in Paris to help reduce global warming. Following this voluntary agreement, India plans to increase the share of electric vehicles to 30% of total vehicles sold by 2030 to reduce air pollution. This paper studies the major financial incentives and policy measures undertaken since 2015 as part of the EV policy and views it through the lens of the Environmental Policy Framework, which considers five major types of instruments: Regulations and Standards, Green Taxes, Incentives, and Subsidies, Carbon Credits and Voluntary Negotiations. Another instrument called 'Information Dissemination Measures' is added to this framework to help evaluate the current EV policy. We find that while there are good financial incentives, to begin with, charging infrastructure and research in battery technology needs to be increased in India. There is also an urgent need to improve communication and awareness about EVs and their role in the reduction of pollution to help overcome the hesitancy in adopting this new technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing environmental awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and motivation to address environmental challenges and improve the environment are the main goals of environmental education (EE). Using a goal-based, process-based education evaluation model and parameters like the integration of EE in environmental policy, the potential rich environmental content of the curriculum, and education about, in/through, and for the environment using secondary data, it was possible to evaluate the effectiveness of EE. With the exception of India, the legal evolution of EE across Africa, particularly after the Earth Submit Declaration, has been similar and attempted to be incorporated at the legislative level. In India and Tanzania, where EE is about, in/through, and for the environment practiced, it is integrated into the curriculum at all grade levels. These countries also tried to promote indigenous knowledge and practical-based education on local and global environmental aspects. Whereas in Ethiopia, in lower grades, EE is about the school and little in/through the environment and hardly for the environment, in South Africa, there is hardly any structured, harmonized, and effective practical implementation of EE. Due to fewer government concerns, generalized integration, a lack of a well-written strategy, and financial and technological constraints, EE in Africa is not applied, is ground-based and is ineffective. Therefore, it should incorporate EE in all subjects at all school levels and needs further study on the effectiveness of EE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental policy is an important means to promote the environmental innovation of enterprises, and environmental innovation is a concrete manifestation for enterprises to follow environmental regulations and assume social responsibility. This study constructs a relationship model of environmental policy instruments, environmental innovation, and corporate reputation along the logical line of "policy-behaviour-performance". Three hundred and six manufacturing enterprises are selected as the research sample, and the influence of three kinds of environmental policy instruments and their combination on the environmental innovation of enterprises is also tested by using a structural equation model and multiple regression analysis. The influence of environmental innovation on the reputation of enterprises is also analysed. The results show that the market-based instrument and information-based instrument have significant positive effects on the three dimensions of an enterprise's environmental innovation, while the command-and-control instrument only has a significant positive effect on eco-organization innovation; eco-organization innovation, eco-process innovation, and eco-product innovation play the role of improving corporate reputation. In addition, as to eco-organization innovation, the combination of the command-and-control instrument and the market-based instrument, as well as the combination of command-and-control, market-based, and information-based instruments, have synergistic effects; as to eco-product innovation, the combination of the command-and-control and information-based instrument has synergistic effects. According to the research conclusion, this study gives the corresponding management implications and points out future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental degradation is one of the most significant issues that developing nations confront and needs to be resolved right away in order for them to achieve sustainable development. Government policies are crucial in this situation since emerging nations frequently struggle with the issue of policy ambiguity, which can result in environmental deterioration. In this context, this study investigates how policy uncertainty affects environmental degradation in the five fragile emerging economies known as the Fragile Five-Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Turkey. Using data from 1996 to 2019, we estimate a Panel Quantile Regression analysis. The empirical findings indicate that economic policy uncertainty and technology innovation increases the environmental degradation whereas environmental degradation is slowed down by financial development and renewable energy consumption. Empirical evidence also confirms the presence of EKC hypothesis in fragile economies. Based on the findings, we suggest both a policy and an environmental framework for achieving sustainable development in fragile economies., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Copyright of International Forestry Review is the property of Commonwealth Forestry Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article revisits the environmental policy of India, including the Wild Life protection Act of 1972 and 1986, National Forest Policy of 1988, and National Environemtn Policy of 2006, and discusses the country's concerns about environmental sustainability.

India is the world's largest user of groundwater for irrigation, with approximately 32 million pumps running on diesel, electric, and solar power. Subsidized electricity has led to an increase in the adoption of electric pumps by farmers, with increasing electrification rates and rising diesel costs contributing to the trend. Government subsidies have been instrumental in enhancing smallholder irrigation pump access. However, subsidies on irrigation pumps may exacerbate undesirable groundwater depletion. In smallholder settings where the capital needed to purchase irrigation equipment exceeds farmers' means, "irrigation-asa-service" and "rental pumps" with organized and affordable volumetric pricing could offer viable solutions. This policy brief provides key learnings on the Indian irrigation pump market and its policy and environmental implications, based on semi-structured interviews and secondary data collected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Groundwater contamination poses a significant health challenge in India, particularly impacting children. Despite its importance, limited research has explored the nexus between groundwater quality and child nutrition outcomes. This study addresses this gap, examining the association between groundwater quality and child undernutrition, offering pertinent insights for policymakers., Data and Methods: The study uses data from the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) and the Central Groundwater Board (CGWB) to analyze the association between groundwater quality and child nutritional status. The groundwater quality data were collected by nationwide monitoring stations programmed by CGWB, and the child undernutrition data were obtained from the NFHS-5, 2019-21. The analysis included descriptive and logistic regression model. The study also considers various demographic and socio-economic factors as potential moderators of the relationship between groundwater quality and child undernutrition., Findings: Significant variation in groundwater quality was observed across India, with numerous regions displaying poor performance. Approximately 26.53 % of geographical areas were deemed unfit for consuming groundwater. Environmental factors such as high temperatures, low precipitation, and arid, alluvial, laterite-type soils are linked to poorer groundwater quality. Unfit-for-consumption groundwater quality increased the odds of undernutrition, revealing a 35 %, 38 %, and 11 % higher likelihood of stunting, underweight, and wasting in children, with higher pH, Magnesium, Sulphate, Nitrate, Total Dissolved Solids, and Arsenic, levels associated with increased odds of stunting, underweight, and wasting. Higher temperatures (>25 °C), high elevations (>1000 m), and proximity to cultivated or industrial areas all contribute to heightened risks of child undernutrition. Children consuming groundwater, lacking access to improved toilets, or living in rural areas are more likely to be undernourished, while females, higher-income households, and those consuming dairy, vegetables, and fruits daily exhibit lower odds of undernutrition., Policy Implications: Policy implications highlight the urgent need for investment in piped water supply systems. Additionally, focused efforts are required to monitor and improve groundwater quality in regions with poor water quality. Policies should emphasize safe sanitation practices and enhance public awareness about the critical role of safe drinking water in improving child health., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The Authors declare the study has no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

As the world's population is expected to be over 2/3rd urban by 2050, climate action in cities is a growing area of interest in the inter-disciplines of development policy, disaster mitigation and environmental governance. The climate impacts are expected to be quite severe in the developing world, given its urban societies are densely packed, vastly exposed to natural elements while possessing limited capabilities. There is a notable ambiguity and complexity that inhibits a methodical approach in identifying urban resilience measures. The complexity is due to intersection of large number of distinct variables in climate geoscience (precipitation and temperature anomalies at different locations, RCPs, timeline), adaptation alternatives (approach, priority, intervention level) and urban governance (functional mandate, institutional capacity, and plans & policies). This research examines how disparate and complex knowledge and information in these inter-disciplines can be processed for systematic 'negotiation' to situate, ground and operationalize resilience in cities. With India as a case, we test this by simulating mid-term and long-run climate scenarios (2050 & 2080) to map regional climate impacts that shows escalation in the intensity of climate events like heat waves, urban flooding, landslides and sea level rise. We draw on suitable adaptation measures for five key urban sectors- water, infrastructure (including energy), building, urban planning, health and conclude a sleuth of climate resilience building measures for policy application through national/ state policies, local urban plans and preparation of city resilience strategy, as well as advance the research on 'negotiated resilience' in urban areas., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Environmental policy debates often get polarized along binaries of environment versus economic development or conservation versus rights. Sustainability scientists and practitioners generally suggest finding common grounds as a pathway for building consensus among the diverse perspectives involved in polarized environmental policy discussions. This paper takes a critical stance towards such calls for common grounds by calling attention to the implicit assumptions that underlie these discourses. We study the case of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in India, which has polarized the forest policy discourse between conservationists and rights activists in India. We examine scientific publications on the FRA using discourse and framing analysis and show that scholarly discourses on FRA lie along a spectrum characterized by underlying epistemic and normative practices. We identify five groups of scholars based on the unique positions they have taken on FRA: a) advocacy-centric, b) welfare-centric, c) community-centric, d) dialogue-centric, and e) techno-centric scholars. We find that negative framings of the forest dweller community lead to scientific endorsement of policy prescriptions that empower socio-political institutions that are external to these communities. We argue that scholarly calls for common grounds often assume uniform or neutral framings for the stakeholders involved. We conclude that recognizing the polarization spectrum in environmental policy discourses can help us move towards pluralistic approaches to environmental governance. • Scientific polarization on Indian forest policy discourses lies along a spectrum. • Epistemic and normative practices shape scientific positions on forest policies. • Negative framings of traditional communities tend to empower external institutions. • Calls for dialogue often do not specify framings for the stakeholders involved. • Recognize the polarization spectrum for enabling pluralistic environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Climate Change related concerns affect multiple international and national policy forefronts. Globally, conflicts over renewables industry between the developed and emerging economies have affected the provision of green goods-thus slowing the overall welfare of global environmental governance. This article argues that the above phenomenon is a new form of green dilemma which arises from the long-lasting issue of balancing environmental protection and economic gains. It further tracks the historical evolutionary change of green dilemma, from version 1.0 to 2.0 to the current avatar of Green Dilemma 3.0. By developing the Green Dilemma Framework, the article aims to uncover the logic underlying the industrial policies and trade conflicts between the developed and emerging economies in their energy transitions. Utilizing the US vs China and US vs India conflicts in the solar PV industries as the two group of cases, the key feature of Green Dilemma 3.0 is illustrated as the conflict over status and control of the global division of labor in the new energy industry. This article offers a novel perspective on global inequality by deconstructing the unequal global production system that can act to restrict the optimization of energy use and production in tackling climate change and thus successively hindering global environmental governance in its realization of optimal results. Underneath global climate change governance, there is an unequal global production network and political system, and both these follow a core, semi-periphery, and periphery distribution of power structure. We argue that the inequality of global production system suppresses the effects of subsidy competition and erodes the economic foundation of global climate governance., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Infrastructure development/industrialization in an area without proper environmental assessment is well known. Governments have implemented environmental impact assessment (EIA) policies to avoid harming the environment. Implementing EIA policy in coordination with local government agencies requires an understanding of environmental information flow. Before and after data sets on environmental change are critical for pro‐environment industry operation. Is it possible to synchronies EIA and Environmental information Centre (EIC) in a way that reduces environmental pollution while increasing entropy at all levels of communication? How does EIC affect EIA regimes? How to close environmental data? How should environmental data be used in EIA? A robust environment information policy (EIP) must address these issues in pro‐environmental development projects and industrial operations (EIP). However, access to information is still limited in India. Lack of quality and complete information makes it difficult for regulators to evaluate large‐scale infrastructure/industry development data submitted by proponents. Proposers and consultants should be given specific instructions on how to communicate with all stakeholders in the project impact zone. Additional information within the broad category of "Information" is sought. As a result, the researchers sought to gather data for the Environment Information System (EIS). Climate change and grassroots communication are two areas being studied. Information is critical in environmental matters. Despite public opinion, authorities ignore environmental planning. The policy decision cycle should priorities data. To better communicate about the environment, the author proposes a proper chain and system of information (Information Modeling). The reporting agencies strictly adhere to the EIA's policy. After their purpose is served, these reports are useless. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government has implemented various scattered and un-quantified control actions in Delhi city to reduce the air pollution levels; however, it still exceeds the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The present study has been designed to assess the air quality status, identify Air Quality Control Region (AQCR), and evaluate control strategies in the city. Out of eight selected locations, ambient PM 10 , PM 2.5 , and NO 2 concentrations were found exceeding the daily as well as annual standards at selected AQCR with peak levels during post-monsoon than winter and summer. Anand Vihar was found to be most polluted and thus, selected as an AQCR. AERMOD performed satisfactorily in predicting pollutant concentration during winter and summer having an index of agreement in the range 0.54-0.80. PM 10 and PM 2.5 can be reduced substantially by increasing frequency of efficient mechanized cleaning of roads and sprinkling of water on the roads. Progressive decrease in NO 2 concentrations can be achieved by restricting entry of truck in the study area through alternate path. The cumulative impact of all selected control strategies indicates a substantial decrease in air pollution within AQCR. The study also suggests a policy framework to manage the urban air quality through local scale air quality guidelines.

This study aims at assessing the impacts of green growth, in the form of adopting sustainable energy technologies and financing green projects, on environmental conditions in India. Thus, this study is important from the point of view of India's efforts in formulating strategies linked with achieving the environmental development targets enlisted under United Nations SDG‐13 declaration. In this regard, it is assumed that strategies targeted at establishing green growth in India can fail in the presence of greenwashing. To test this hypothesis, a newly introduced econometric technique, namely the Augmented‐ARDL techniques of estimation is used. Accordingly, the results obtained firstly suggest the existence of long‐run and cointegrated relationship exists between the variables of choice. Secondly, it is very much striking to find out that the the there is an inverse relationship between use of sustainable environmental technologies and environmental sustainability across India. Hence, this particular finding points to the possibility of stimulating geenwashing in the context of technology adoption in order to improve the state of the environment in India. Lastly, financing of green projects is seen to promote environmental sustainability which, in turn, affirms the absence of greenwashing in the context of green financing initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores if the value priorities and their impact on future managers' attitudes towards environmental responsibilities vary with gender. While relevant prior studies mostly focus on gender‐based variations of individuals' personal values in developed economies, we concentrate on both personal values and pro‐environmental attitudes in an emerging economy. This study is built on MBA students (a proxy for future managers) in India since India is characterized as a male‐dominated society and a producer of larger number of MBA graduates. Overall, our results show that personal values and attitude towards environmental responsibilities do not vary significantly with gender. Only two values (among the 21 values) and one value type (out of 10 values) get significantly higher ranking from females compared with males. Further, although 'universalism' and 'benevolence' are found to have a statistically significant impact on respondents' attitude towards environmental responsibility, the latter is invariant to the respondents' gender. Our findings may indicate India's transformation from a male‐dominated society towards a more gender‐balanced society. These findings can be used to operationalize a pro‐environmental recruitment policy and to formulate strategies to improve female participation in MBA cohorts of business schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a systematic exploration of the linkages between environment impact assessment (EIA) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the Indian context through a critical analysis of the socio‐ecological impacts of development projects and the policy climate for environmental clearances. A conceptual framework portraying the interlinkages of the systemic disruptions in the socio‐ecological realms, policy challenges, and SDGs is developed, which argues for integrating the SDGs into the EIA framework in India. The paper argues that the legal fluidity and dilution in the design and enactment of EIA retrogrades the crucial socio‐political transformation required for achieving sustainability. The systematic literature review of empirical, conceptual, and grey literature, undertaken on Indian EIA, highlights its instrumental role as a political tool for achieving developmental sustainability. The paper concludes by highlighting the urgent need to mainstream ecological decision‐making into all governance processes for achieving the SDGs in a transforming society like India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policies sometimes exempt particular categories of regulatees for reasons of equity and political feasibility. Will the non‐exempt oppose the policy because they shoulder all of the policy costs? We outline an analytic framework for "stress testing" public support among the non‐exempt when they are provided negative information about exemptions and reduced policy effectiveness. Empirically, we study public support for the odd‐even road space rationing policy in India. Using a survey experiment with 2,182 car owners in Bangalore, we find considerable baseline support for this policy. While support among the non‐exempt erodes when they are told about exemptions, there is no additional erosion when they are told that exemptions reduce policy effectiveness. This suggests that the perception of fairness, not policy efficacy, drives the erosion of support among the non‐exempt. Yet the policy survives the stress test because the majority of respondents continue to support it, in spite of support erosion among the non‐exempt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the significant changes India has achieved in environmental policy in the past 10 years, especially in terms of regulatory procedures and organizational structure. Despite these changes, however, environmental quality has continued to deteriorate, largely because a wide gap persists between the intent of policy and the actual achievement and because major problems have eluded serious attention. The paper analyzes major problems in the implementation of Indian environmental policy, with particular attention to policy design, policy analysis, and standard setting. Political problems are identified that underlie difficulties in policy formulation and implementation, and strategies to improve implementation are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present study is a novel attempt to measure the impact of population growth, natural resource depletion, non-renewable energy consumption, growth of national income, remittances inflow and industrial output on carbon dioxide emissions in India during the period of 1980–2018. Design/methodology/approach: Autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) is used to achieve the objective. The application of FMOLS (fully modified ordinary least squares), DOLS (dynamic ordinary least squares) and CCR (canonical cointegrating regression) techniques illustrate statistical robustness. Findings: The long-run ARDL results confirm that increase in population, national income and energy consumption have a positive and significant impact on pollution levels in India. In contradiction to this, long run results further reveal that the increase in natural resource depletion, industrial output and remittances inflow have insignificant and negative impact on pollution levels in India. Further, the empirical findings did not find any evidence for the applicability of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) in India during the study period. Research limitations/implications: The study is confined to only a few important determinants of CO2 emissions in India. However, there is a large chunk of studies that have incorporated other determinants of CO2 emissions. Specifying a few determinants of CO2 emissions in India is itself a lacuna in the present study. Moreover, taking the time period from 1980 to 2018 is also one of the limitations of the study. Practical implications: Plenty of research has been devoted to the causal relationship between the environment and its various determinants. However, not much attention has been paid to investigating the association between population growth, natural resource depletion, energy consumption, GDP per capita, remittances inflow, industry and carbon dioxide emissions in India. Since, CO2 emissions are one of the widely accepted and applied emissions in EKC applications, which the present study intends to test. Moreover, the study employs advanced econometric techniques including ARDL framework, FMOLS, DOLS and CRR methodologies to achieve robust results. Such an investigation will potentially allow policymakers to frame efficient environmental and fiscal policies to achieve the desired results. Originality/value: The continuous increase of CO2 emissions in India has compelled policy makers to prioritize this issue as soon as possible and formulate national environmental policy for reducing the share of carbon dioxides emissions in climate change. The study could constitute the focus of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is extensive evidence linking air pollution exposure to physical health. Less is known about the mental health impacts of poor air quality, especially in developing countries. We use data from India and estimate the causal impact of air pollution exposure on feeling sad, experiencing cognitive difficulties, and feeling unable to control and cope with important things in life. We instrument for air pollution exposure using the annual number of nighttime thermal inversions and show that air pollution exposure in the previous calendar year significantly worsens mental health in the current year. We examine potential mechanisms and find that air pollution exposure negatively impacts self-reported physical health, worsens respiratory conditions, and increases the likelihood of experiencing sleeping difficulties. Accounting for mental health impacts of pollution exposure is critical to accurately estimating the true health costs of air pollution and designing optimal environmental policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine whether geopolitical risk influences environmental degradation, while controlling for non-renewable energy consumption, economic growth and trade openness, using a quarterly dataset from 1985Q1 to 2019Q4. The choice of India as a case study is based on a number of reasons. India is a developing country, which produces approximately 3.2% of global GDP. Also, India produces almost 17.7% of the world population. The country also emits about 6.8% of global carbon emissions, and according to the 2020 report of the consulting firm Eurasia, India is ranked fifth in terms of geopolitical risk. This study adds to the existing literature by using the quantile-on-quantile (QQR) regression to examine the effect of geopolitical risk on environmental degradation, as well as highlighting the implications of geopolitical risk on environmental sustainability. Based on empirical estimation, we find that geopolitical risk increases and decreases carbon emissions in India. That is, geopolitical risk increases environmental degradation at middle quantiles and decreases environmental degradation at lower and higher quantiles. In addition, we find that non-renewable energy consumption, economic growth and trade openness impede environmental quality in India. Thus, we are of the opinion that policymakers, when making policy decisions on environmental quality, should factor in geopolitical risk in two areas, mitigation and channel of escalation, among other policy suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study looks at the causes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by considering the implications of remittances in the presence of economic growth, financial development, and energy consumption in the case of selected four G-20 economies over the period 1990–2019. This study first uses the dynamic simulated ARDL model to stimulate, estimate, and plot to predict graphs of negative and positive changes occurring in the variables along with their short-run and long-run relationships. Results of the ARDL bounds test confirm a long-term relationship among remittances, financial development, economic growth energy consumption, and CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the error correction model (ECM) also confirms the long-run relationship among CO2 emissions, remittances, financial development, economic growth, and energy use. The results of a novel dynamic simulated ARDL disclosed that financial development is completely connected to CO2 emissions in Mexico and India in the long run. On the other hand, results confirm that there is a positive relationship between remittances and CO2 emissions in the case of Australia, Germany, and India, but this relationship is insignificant with CO2 emissions in the case of Mexico. The result further disclosed that renewable energy exerts a significant impact on CO2 in Australia, Mexico, India, and Germany in the long run while remittances wield a significant impact on CO2 emissions in Australia, Mexico, and India. Moreover, the findings concluded that GDP has significant nexus with CO2 in the long run in the case of Australia, Mexico, and Germany. This study uses up new visions for the economies of G-20 countries to sustain financial and economic growth by protecting the environment from pollution through its efficient national environmental policy, fiscal policy, and monetary policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past three decades have witnessed the dramatic expansion of global biomass‐ and fossil fuel‐fired power plants, but the tremendously diverse power infrastructure shapes different spatial and temporal CO2 emission characteristics. Here, by combining Global Power plant Emissions Database (GPED v1.1) constructed in this study and the previously developed China coal‐fired power Plant Emissions Database (CPED), we analyzed multi‐scale changes and underlying drivers from the globe to the unit in generating capacities, age structure, and CO2 emissions over the past 30 yr. Our estimates show global CO2 emissions from the power sector increased from 7.5 Gt in 1990 to 13.9 Gt in 2019, and the growth of power demand meeting by large and young units mainly drives this increase for all stages. However, regional drivers were broadly different from those affecting global trends. For example, the critical roles of thermal efficiency improvement (accounting for 20% of the decrease in CO2 emissions) by eliminating small and low‐efficient coal‐fired units and fossil fuel mix (61%) by developing natural‐gas‐ and oil‐fired units were identified in preventing CO2 emission increases in the developed regions. By contrast, the decrease of fossil fuel share by speeding up the expansion of renewable power gradually demonstrates its importance in curbing emissions in the most of regions, especially including the developing economies (i.e., China and India) after 2010. Our multi‐scale results of 30 yr emission variations indicate the structure optimization and transformations of power plants is paramount importance to further curb or reduce CO2 emissions from the power sector. Plain Language Summary: The power sector is the top CO2 emitter and accounts for 37% of global anthropogenic emissions, which has great significance for climate change. Our combined database shows that the capacity of global fossil‐fuel‐ and biomass‐fired power plants experienced a substantial increase, mainly driven by the growing demand of power generation during the past three decades. In contrast to 133.3% increase of power capacity, global CO2 emissions of power plants increased by 85.3% during the period 1990–2019, and the disproportionately low increase of emissions benefited from the upgrade of coal‐fired power units and the large‐scale expansion of non‐coal‐fired ones with low/zero carbon intensity. Specifically, global power plant fleet turnover improved the power generation efficiency and optimized the fuel mix by constructing large and technologically advanced power units, slowing the growth rate of global CO2 emissions in 1990–2019. Moreover, changes in the critical role of fossil fuel power were associated with regional economic growth, environmental policy and technological advances, indicating that the expansion of non‐fossil‐fuels will likely represent an increasing factor in driving future CO2 emission reductions from the power sector. Key Points: Global CO2 emissions from the power sector increased from 7.5 Gt in 1990 to 13.9 Gt in 2019, mainly driven by the growth of demandThe efficiency improvements and the non‐coal power development carry positive effects on decreasing CO2 emissions in the developed regionsThe power shift from fossil fuels to non‐fossil fuels plays an increasingly critical role on curbing CO2 emissions in developing regions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study proposes to examine how environmental, social and governance disclosure (ESG) affect the financial performance (FP) of Indian firms. Furthermore, it aims to evaluate the moderation impact of CEO power (CEOP) on the association between ESG on the FP. The study's target population is all firms indexed in NIFTY 100, representing the top one hundred firms by market capitalisation from 2017 to 2021. Data relating to ESG were collected and built based on the available data on Refinitiv Eikon Database. Results reveal that EDI positively and significantly impacts the ROE and TQ of Indian firms. Furthermore, SDI and GDI negatively and significantly affect the ROE and TQ of Indian firms. Moreover, ESG and CEOP have a significant impact on ROE. Nevertheless, ESG has a negative but highly significant impact on ROE, whilst it has a negative and low considerable impact on the TQ of Indian firms. Nonetheless, CEOP does not moderate the association between ESG and FP measured by ROE and TQ. This research contributes to the existing literature by introducing a moderator variable that has not been used in the Indian context; CEO power, which provides stakeholders and regulators with useful findings that would encourage firms to create an ESG committee to enhance ESG disclosure to compete on the world market and reach the United Nations (UN) Sustainable goal 2030. Furthermore, this paper provides insightful recommendations for creating an ESG legal framework for decision-makers., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

India is the second most populous country in the world and stood at seventh rank in a major climate risk index in 2019, which is a grave concern for the Indian government, policymakers and environmentalists. Therefore, the present study examines the role of fiscal policy and monetary policy instruments along with select macroeconomic variables on carbon emission in India over the period 1971–2019 in the non‐linear framework. The outcome of the study reveals that the impact of fiscal and monetary policy instruments on carbon emission is asymmetric in nature. In addition, the positive and negative shocks in fiscal and monetary policy instruments have a positive and negative impact on carbon emissions, respectively. Based on the coefficients' magnitude, the role of fiscal policy instruments has a more prominent effect on carbon emissions than monetary policy instruments. The findings of the study imply that the Indian government is required to implement green fiscal and monetary policies. Use fiscal policy to implement a 'green tax ratio' and a 'green subsidy programme' for manufacturers and investors to reduce CO2 emissions. A 'green lending programme' should be introduced for commercial banks by implementing monetary policy via the central bank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the environmental and social policies of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the World Bank. Our objective is to assess how the AIIB innovates in the international financial order in terms of Environmental and Social Assessment (ESA) instruments. We analyse projects financed by the two institutions in India between 2017 and 2020, considering both institutions' social and environmental standards. First, we compare the social and environmental guidelines of both financial institutions extensively. Then, we analyse 20 projects carried out in India during this period, considering the amounts invested, risk classification policies, and the adopted ESA instruments. Finally, we conduct two case studies analysing each organization's ESA instruments based on 10 parameters of comparison. We conclude that the AIIB portrays itself as a 'middle way' bank, with the internalization of some standards of the already established multilateral development banks (MDBs), but with several innovative characteristics. We identify the incorporation of some World Bank guidelines used in ESA instruments in AIIB projects. Nevertheless, the AIIB innovates through its focus on infrastructure, the variability of its project sizes, more integration with the borrower's national policies and programmes, and the simplification of socio‐environmental analysis instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the gaps and tensions in the application of environmental justice principles in the context of forest laws in India. Topics discussed include evolution of forest laws in India, explanation on rights of forest communities and wildlife conservation, and information on the coal mining of the Parsa East Ketan Besan (PEKB) mine by the Adani enterprises.

Public participation can not only contribute to improvement of decisions, but can also help in enhancing the capability of communities to solve problems and pursue common concerns. Arguably, a strong public participation in environmental governance could increase the commitment among stakeholders, which strengthens the compliance and enforcement of policies. Nevertheless, despite the critical importance of public participation in policy making, such involvements are not as effective as may be desired for logical conclusion and efficient implementation of policies. The near nonexistence of visualization tools at the disposal of the general public to aid in visual understanding of the problem is the major cause factor for the non-involvement and negligible influence of the populace in policy making. One such facility is being established at Wildlife Institute of India for visualizing the impacts of climate change on biodiversity of Indian Himalayan Region (IHR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity is not equally distributed across the world. It depends on the type of various habitats and food availability. In these habitats, wetlands play an import role to increase the biodiversity of the particular area. Many studies have focused on various habitats to conserve biodiversity. However, the wetland studies are very few due to the lack of information on their distribution and importance. The present review focusses on the wetland status and their importance in India. India has vibrant and diverse wetland ecosystems that support immense biodiversity. The wetlands are unique habitats which provide ecological, social and economic values. However, rapid urbanization, industrialization and uncontrolled agricultural practices have pressurized to shrink the wetlands in India. The present paper highlights the wetland habitats in India with their geographical location, distribution, avian species diversity and their significance. The paper also discusses the growing threats like climate change, land-use change and agriculture/municipal waste to the wetlands and the conservation efforts by Indian government policies, i.e. National Wetland Conservation Programme, National Environmental Policy, and National Plan for conservation of the aquatic ecosystem. In addition, on the basis of previous studies on wetlands, it is suggested that the role of stakeholders is very much responsible for wetland conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's rapid agro-economic growth has resulted into many environmental issues, especially related to chemical pollution. Environmental management and control of toxic chemicals have gained significant attention from policy makers, researchers, and enterprises in India. The present study reviews the policy and legal and non-regulatory schemes set in place in this country during the last decades to manage chemical risk and compares them with those in developed nations. India has a large and fragmented body of regulation to control and manage chemical pollution which appears to be ineffective in protecting environment and human health. The example of POPs contamination in India is proposed to support such a theory. Overlapping of jurisdictions and retrospectively approached environmental policy and risk management currently adopted in India are out of date and excluding Indian economy from the process of building and participating into new, environmentally-sustainable market spaces for chemical products. To address these issues, the introduction of a new integrated and scientifically-informed regulation and management scheme is recommended. Such scheme should acknowledge the principle of risk management rather than the current one based on risk acceptance. To this end, India should take advantage of the experience of recently introduced chemical management regulation in some developed nations., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Using policy cycle model as a heuristic, this article studies Indian, Brazilian, and South African engagement with Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) by (a) comparing NAMA policy process and (b) identifying factors driving or limiting the framework’s domestic application. India largely remained uninterested in NAMAs, Brazil aligned its domestic climate policy and NAMAs, while South Africa had a more nuanced engagement when formulating NAMAs. Four factors influenced these countries’ NAMA engagements: the level and necessity of international support, the availability of domestic policy provisions to tackle climate change, the domestic institutional capacity to coordinate interministerial functioning, and the role of individuals in the institutional apparatus. As an international climate policy framework, studying NAMA engagement provides learnings for nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement for designing the instrument, ensuring clarity on support provisions for ratcheting up ambitions, and enhancing institutional capacity, to expedite transition from policy formulation to implementation and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of environmental policy on water resources is often challenging to evaluate due to dynamic interactions between people and water, particularly in data‐scarce watersheds. Increasing interactions between society and hydrology present a need to understand causal relations for improved assessment and prediction in complex human‐water systems. Conventional approaches to causal assessment in hydrology are sometimes insufficient due to data scarcity or system complexity. We argue that natural experiments present a promising and complementary avenue for assessing causal relations in such systems. In this spirit, we describe a natural experiment to assess causal effects of the Ganges water treaty, between India and Bangladesh, on streamflow and channel salinity in the Ganges delta in Bangladesh. We apply causal inference to assess the effect of the treaty on streamflow and use the results to generate synthetic ensembles of streamflow and salinity under a realistic scenario (with the treaty) and a counterfactual scenario (without the treaty). We then use synthetic streamflow ensembles to model salinity ensembles. The Ganges water treaty increased dry‐season streamflow in Bangladesh by approximately 18% and decreased channel salinity by approximately 10%. The treaty has the greatest effect on salinity in Bangladesh in the driest years, but the overall effect is small compared with natural variability. We show that our approach accounts for natural hydrologic variability to accurately assess the causal effect of the treaty, compared with a naive approach that greatly overestimates the effect. This research demonstrates the value of natural experiments for causal assessment in coupled human‐water systems. Key Points: Natural experiments and counterfactuals are promising tools for causal assessmentWe use a natural experiment and generate counterfactuals to assess the effect of the Ganges water treaty on streamflow and salinityThe Ganges water treaty plays a modest yet important role in reducing salinity in the delta in Bangladesh [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the international level, India is emerging as a key actor in climate negotiations, while at the national and sub-national levels, the climate policy landscape is becoming more active and more ambitious. It is essential to unravel this complex landscape if we are to understand why policy looks the way it does, and the extent to which India might contribute to a future international framework for tackling climate change as well as how international parties might cooperate with and support India's domestic efforts. Drawing on both primary and secondary data, this paper analyzes the material and ideational drivers that are most strongly influencing policy choices at different levels, from international negotiations down to individual states. We argue that at each level of decision making in India, climate policy is embedded in wider policy concerns. In the international realm, it is being woven into broader foreign policy strategy, while domestically, it is being shaped to serve national and sub-national development interests. While our analysis highlights some common drivers at all levels, it also finds that their influences over policy are not uniform across the different arenas, and in some cases, they work in different ways at different levels of policy. We also indicate what this may mean for the likely acceptability within India of various climate policies being pushed at the international level.

Objectives: The leather industry is one of the main examples of industries which play an important role in the Indian economy in terms of exports and employment opportunities, while being blamed for environmental pollution. The objective of this study was to find the advances or improvements in the Japanese leather industry which are not found in typical leather industries in developing countries. We examined the Japanese leather industry in this context because Japan is a developed country in which tanning processes have been a traditional business from ancient times, and also the leather industry has played an important role in the process of economic development of Japan., Methods: The study was based both on information collected from various areas related to the leather industry or leather industry stakeholders, and also on a review of published information. Information was collected through site visits, interviews, questionnaires, and detailed discussions with these stakeholders, as well as from their websites., Results: The framework of a typical leather industry is discussed in three sections: pollution prevention, pollution control, and pollution mitigation related to sources, processes, and impact possibilities, respectively. Eleven basic differences were noted between the Japanese and Indian leather industries. The availability of melting centers is the main important feature of the Japanese leather sector., Conclusion: Guidelines are suggested which focus on some changes that are expected to lead to both environmental and economic benefits, with better pollution management, which should lead to continuous improvement of the environmental performance of the industry, and, finally, sustainable development.

Climate change issue has evolved as a central policy of the Government of India. The crux of the policy is centered on the economic development. Internationally, India has been consistently resisting the developed country's climate policy as the policy might threaten New Delhi's economic development prospect. However, the recent evidence of climate change threat to the economic development compelled political leaders to design the domestic climate policy—the National Action Plan on Climate Change—which is consistent with the country's economic development. Considering the global climate diplomacy, this paper examines the evolution of India's domestic climate change-development discourse and how climate change has been constructed as a major threat at the highest political level that securitises the country's economic development. The threat discourse is explained from the standpoint of the securitisation theory to explore three core constituents of India's domestic climate policy: the referent object, securitising actors and the audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological problems are increasing globally, studies are being done seriously for environmental protection; Efforts are being made to improve the deteriorating relationship between development and the environment. Since the publication of the issue,=Development and the Environment' by the World Bank in 1992, several articles on the relationship between development and the environment have been published in the economic literature, most of which suggestthe government policies to improve this deteriorating relationship. In the direction of environmental protection, there have been many policy changes in various developed and developing countries, which have yielded promising results. Some countries have adopted the policy of financial incentives; some countries have given colour codes based on the pollution of factories. Some countries have adopted a policy of campaigning against pollutants and some have started following a policy of punitive recovery based on polluted emissions. Many countries have begun making industrial workers and the public aware of pollution because they are the worst affected by pollution. These efforts have yielded good results. In Asian countries, many positive trends can be found in environmental protection through governance. On the other hand, environmental policies & laws were strengthened, particularly in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. India follows the basic principle of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). According to which, countries responsible for climate change have to contribute more to emission reductionsthan other less accountable countries. Thus, India is not bound by these responsibilities but can make voluntary contributions. At the world level, ever since the environment has become an important issue in international politics, India has been working on it responsibly. India is trying to fulfil the commitments made at the world level. India signed the Paris Agreement on April 22, 2016 with the objective of reducing greenhouse gases under UNFCCC. India is actively working with China and G-77 for joint programme development on the agreement. UNFCCC has given a number of presentations on finance, technology, forestry and other sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to growing awareness about environment protection, firms are forced to implement environmental practices to enhance their green image. In recent times, academicians and practitioners have shown interest in green marketing and green supply chain management (GSCM). Fields of green branding and sustainability have seen special interest from different business disciplines including information management, marketing, supply chain management, etc. Due to economical and ecological impact, there is a growing concern for the environment and related critical issues. Pressure on the environment is dynamic and diverse, and demands new levels of accountability, financial commitment and supply chain capabilities. Indian manufacturing industries have started adopting green concepts in their supply chain management giving special attention to environmental issues based on pressures from different directions, e.g. customer pressure, government regulations etc. Yet, industries struggle hard to identify essential pressures for implementation of GSCM. This work focuses mainly on identifying such pressures for implementation of GSCM. Initially 65 pressures were identified through detailed literature and categorised into six groups. Then common acceptable pressures were identified through a questionnaire survey from different industrial sectors in Phase 1. Finally, essential pressures are prioritised with the help of analytic hierarchy process in Phase 2. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]