Indian efforts to protect and preserve environment in the country have been prompted by its international obligations undertaken at various international conferences on development and environment. India not only amended its constitution, the fundamental and supreme law of the country to reflect its commitment to its international obligations with regard to global environment but also enacted plethora of laws to protect the environment.

It may be appreciated that the Indian Constitution caste a fundamental duty on the state as well as every Indian citizen to preserve and protect environment in the country. While it is disappointing to note that the failure on the part of the executive to implement and enforce the country’s environmental laws effectively has been the bane of Indian environmental jurisprudence, it is heartening, at the same time that the Indian higher judiciary has played a pivotal role in the protection of the Indian environment. The apex court of the country has used the paradigm of PIL (Public Interest Litigation) innovatively to compel the executive to implement and enforce the various environmental laws. In its crusade against environmental degradation, the court has used the international environmental principles such as sustainable development, polluter pays principle, precautionary principle, public trust principle and intergenerational equity, etc; as effective judicial tools to protect and preserve environment and to prevent environment degradation.

The national and international community should reorient its strategies to prevent global warming and the consequential climate change with all its dangerous consequence. It is absolutely necessary for the international community to find ways and means to impress upon its members the need for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions which are the main cause for global warming. This is possible only when the member countries take their international obligations and commitment undertaken at various international conferences on climate change more seriously.