FOREIGN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY PURSUED BY INDIA

Abstract The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF) along with MEA (Ministry of External Affair) has enjoyed considerable autonomy in policy making. The MOEF is the nodal agency of Indian Government for most issues relating to the environment and for matters relating to the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). For example as a consequence of Stockholm Declaration, 1972, in 1972, February, a National Committee on Environmental Planning and Coordination (NCEPC) was established within the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The MEA lacks expertise on environmental issues. It does not have an environmental cell, and is forced to rely for scientific and other policy inputs on the MOEF. Many policies are recognized by MOEF, few more relevant are Ecomark or ecolabelling scheme, Environment Audit, Environment Impact Assessment, Carbon Trading, Green marketing, National Environmental awards, National Air Ambient Quality Standards