CLIMATE CHANGE AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN INDIA: A LEGAL ASSESSMENT WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO FOREST SECTOR.

The Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has elucidated that the uninterrupted emission of greenhouse gases has resulted in climate change posing the biggest existential threat to humanity. India, which stretches from the Himalayas to the fertile plains of Ganges to the long west and east coast, is experiencing an array of climate change impacts. India's vulnerability is closely tied to the region's geography, economy, and population patterns. Considering the colossal population, vulnerability, and gross GHG emission, the success of climate action in India will be a major contributory factor in the global response to climate change. India has played a proactive and prominent role in elucidating the position of developing nations in climate negotiation but has not enacted climate-specific legislation. As a consequence, the climate responses have been a continuum of policy actions, drawing on various provisions of the Indian Constitution, and existing environmental legislative provisions drawing on the various international environmental instruments to which India is a signatory. Forest management is a sector closely linked with climate change in terms of impacts and addressing climate change in India. The Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets of India envisaged under the Paris Agreement reveal the weightage attached to forests in the climate change response. This paper attempts to capture the legislative framework governing climate change in India, focusing on the general environment protection laws and forest management. It also explores whether the legal framework operating in the forest sector is adequate to address the climate concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]