Inauguration of policy dialogue on 'Environmental Governance for Sustainable Development in India' and Book launch

TERI, in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), organized a Policy Dialogue on 'Environmental Governance in the Context of Sustainable Development in India' on July 15, 2015 at the Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi.

During the Inauguration of the Policy Dialogue on July 14, 2015, TERI launched the book 'Green Federalism: Experiences and Practices' co-edited by Dr P G Dhar Chakrabarti, Distinguished Fellow and Ms Nidhi Srivastava, Fellow. The book was launched by Mr Ashok Lavasa, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

The dialogue stood as a culmination of a series of dialogues on environmental governance that focussed on the different ecosystems of India and took place during 2012 and 2013. The aim of these dialogues was to bring together multiple viewpoints on the issues of environmental governance using a multi-stakeholder approach and formulating the norms/rules for sustainable development by including these viewpoints in policy-making exercises. The dialogues have been instrumental in capturing the diversity of stakeholder opinions and increasing participation of major groups in governance mechanisms for sustainable development.

The objectives of these dialogues were:

• To highlight the specific environmental issues and challenges in different regions
• To bring out the diversity of opinion regarding issues and solutions to be incorporated in the environmental governance framework of the country

Four dialogues were conducted focussing on the northern mountain region, the western desert region, the coastal region including marine ecological systems, and the plateaus and hilly regions of India.

• The very first dialogue took place in Shimla during July 29-31, 2012. It focussed on the environmental governance issues of the Indian Himalayan region.
• The second in the series took place in Jodhpur during November 15-16, 2012 and focussed on the environmental governance issues of the Indian Desert region.
• The third took place in Goa from April 5-7, 2013 and looked at the challenges of the coastal and marine ecosystems in India.
• The final dialogue took place in Bangalore from October 6-8, 2013 and addressed the issues pertaining to the plateau and hilly region of the country.

As a culmination of the afore mentioned series of dialogues, the final synthesis event was organized on July 15, 2015 to bring together all the issues discussed in the previous dialogues - specific to regions as well as those across regions - and to present it to the relevant stakeholders to take the agenda of environmental governance in India forward. The outcomes of this Policy Dialogue will be instrumental in creating a platform for bringing together the dispersed discussion on 'Environmental Governance in the Context of Sustainable Development in India', which was directed towards a diverse group of stakeholders ranging from policy makers, enforcement agencies, practitioners, academicians, business and industry representatives and civil society.