Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh
Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh has said he is worried that ecological laws are being violated under the current government.
"If we are going to dismantle the entire edifice of environmental laws and regulations, as this government seems to be doing, then what conviction and credibility will we carry internationally on climate change I don't know," Mr Ramesh told NDTV.
Raising his concerns about the TSR Subramanium committee report, which was appointed by the government to have a re-look at the existing environmental laws, Mr Ramesh said the ecological structure in the country will be under threat if the report is accepted.
"Our position on climate change has not been pro-active and progressive in the last couple of years. India faces maximum vulnerability to climate change. There is no country which is going to be threatened by climate change as we are," he said.
The Centre had set up a special committee headed by former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanium to examine India's environmental laws and suggest changes. While the committee has completed and given its suggestions to the ministry, environmentalists are skeptical about the recommendations and say that reported change could weaken laws and protection.
"The signals are that laws are going to get diluted and that there is hostility towards dialogue with civil society and not engagement - something which would further harm India's ecological heritage," Mr Ramesh said.
He, however, admitted that the government's steps including increasing solar energy generation targets from 20,000 MW to 1 lakh MW were in the right direction.
India has so far maintained that while it was willing and taking steps to reduce its own emissions it will not be forced into a corner on climate change and not take on any binding cuts. India is now the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases though it is still way behind the US and China which has taken the first spot.
Recently the US and China has reached an agreement that sets their emission peaking years raising speciation if this would force India into a corner ahead of the crucial Paris talks next year.