| Abstract: |
The twenty-first century has experienced a high pace of industrialization, urbanization, and uncontrolled use of resources, hence making environmental protection one of the most pressing issues of a global concern. Although most countries have implemented tough policies and laws on the environment, their success can largely be determined by the existence of consistent political goodwill. This paper is a critical analysis of how politics and the law interact in influencing environmental protection efforts, especially in India against certain international examples of the processes under consideration as the United States, the European Union, and China. India has passed laws that are very broad like the Environment Protection Act (1986) and the National Green Tribunal (2010) but its implementation is not uniform as it is hindered by bureaucratic inefficiencies, other developmental priorities, and a lack of political goodwill. Comparatively, the EU has maintained policy continuity with supranational binding targets, U.S. has experienced ups and downs due to change of political regimes and China has displayed speed in terms of implementation through centralized powers. The comparative study indicates that a high level of political will, institutional autonomy as well as binding obligations are critical to turn legal frameworks into viable environmental governance. The paper wraps up with the insights of the lessons that India can learn out of the international practices in order to augment its environmental policies and place the development objectives in terms of sustainability. |
