Role of Energy Laws in Holding the Spirit of Sustainable Development in India

INTRODUCTION

The issue of Sustainable Development emerged as a global one with the publication of the report ‘Limits to Growth’ in the year 1970.[1] Sustainable Development is an advancement that addresses the issues of the present without trading off the capacity of people in the future to address their own issues.[2] Sustainable Development, in simple words, means the optimum utilisation of resources by the present generation in order to save the resources for the future coming generations. India keeps on attempting to implement countless activities identifying with energy, environment and climate, specifically, covering renewable energy, energy efficiency, feasible farming, sustainable natural surroundings, water, forestry, Himalayan ecosystem, and knowledge and capacity building. These activities mirror India's duty to meet (and accommodate) the objectives of climate change, sustainable development and energy access. India additionally anticipates that the international community should be goal-oriented and satisfy its duties as per the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities.

THE ROLE OF ENERGY SECTOR IN ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

In the transition towards a sustainable society, access to modern fuel/energy for cooking is a key concern.[3] The lack of access to energy hampers the provision of basic services such as health care, security and education.[4] Modern fuels for cooking and warming are a great relief for women from the tedious drudgery and risk of venturing out significant distances to assemble wood. Electricity empowers youngsters to study after it has turned dark. It empowers water to be pumped for crops, and foods and medications to be refrigerated. Universal access to affordable, reliable and sustainable and modern energy – Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 -- is essential to reach other SDGs and is at the centre of efforts to tackle climate change.[5] Energy is very correctly added as a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) as energy is interlinked with all the other SDGs. For the effective implementation of the SDGs, it is necessary to recognise, acknowledge and take into consideration these interconnections.

INDIAN LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE ENERGY SECTOR

These below legislations are the most fundamental when we look at the Indian energy sector as a whole more so in the context of sustainable energy. These include the following;

• Coal Mines (Conservation & Development) Act, 1974
• Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act, 1998
• Electricity Rules, 2005
• Energy Conservation Act, 2001
• The Electricity Act, 2003
• The Electricity Tariff Policy, 2006
• The Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2010
• The Oil Industry Act, 1974
• The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006

It is noteworthy that some of the legislations above have been repealed and amended over time however they still hold valuable place in matters incidental to energy governance in India.

KEY PLAYERS FOR BETTER SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

The Government plays a fundamental role in the making of National Policy on standalone systems for rural areas including those based on renewable and non-conventional sources of energy.[6] The following are the key agencies and institutes responsible for sustainable energy in India.

• Central Electricity Regulatory Commission
• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA)
• National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE)
• NTPC VidyutVyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN)
• Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL)
• Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Renewable Energy (SSS-NIRE)
• State Electricity Regulation Commission
• The Bureau of Energy Efficiency

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY CHALLENGES

Some of the major challenges that could be an obstacle in achieving sustainable energy are-

• Commercial viability
• Consistency of policy
• Delayed reforms
• Financial capability
• Fuel Shortage
• Implementation issues
• Inter-Governmental coordination
• Investment and Investment needs
• Officialdom
• Other expertise
• Political will
• Pricing
• Securing land and clearances[7]
  

THE ROLE OF SELECTED INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES IN THE FORMATION OF INTERNATIONAL ENERGY LAW AND POLICY TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

While sustainable development can perhaps be described as the ideological input, activities such as technical and financial assistance and work with rules (formulating, implementing, revising) are the output of international agencies. International Agencies of most significances for energy are as follows-[8]

1. Energy Charter Conference and Secretariat
2. European Union (EU)

ü EURATOM

1. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
2. International Energy Agency (IEA)
3. OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)
4. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
5. United Nations

ü Climate Change Secretariat

ü Compensation Commission

ü United Nations Development Programme

ü United Nations Environment Programme

All these and many other international agencies do play an important role in the formation and effective execution of legislations related to energy and more specifically sustainable energy.

THE NEED FOR A NEW ENERGY PARADIGM

A paradigm shift needs to be made in the energy sector. Under the emerging paradigm, contrary to the traditional paradigm-

• There ought to be more prominent consideration of social, monetary, and natural effects of energy use.
• Limitations on the assimilative limit of the earth and its air ought to be there.
• There ought to be an acknowledgment of the need to address the environmental effects of all types and at all scales (neighbourhood to worldwide).
• There must be recognition of our common future and of the welfare of future generations.
• Emphasis on growing energy administrations, enlarging access, and expanding proficiency ought to be made and there should be accentuation on building up a more extensive arrangement of energy assets/resources, and on cleaner energy technologies.
• There should be a comprehension of the connections/links among economy and ecology, and also of the cost viability of addressing environment impacts at an early stage.
• Ways to address the negative externalities associated with energy use should be found.[9]

CONCLUSION

As indicated earlier, energy laws play a very important role in holding the spirit of sustainable development and for a developing country like India energy and power infrastructure plays an important role for its sustained economic growth as well. The well-conceived Energy Security Plan needs to be formulated for the promotion of sustainable sources of energy because the conventional sources of energy have only limited potential. However, the way is troublesome during the underlying stages, with the full help of Indian Govt. the development of 'Sustainable Energy' in India would unquestionably end up being an example of overcoming adversity.

This article is authored by Nandini Menon, a 3rd-year student pursuing a 5-year law course [BSW LLB (Hons.)] at the Gujarat National Law University (GNLU).

Disclaimer: The article is an original submission of the Author. Niti Manthan does not hold any liability arising out of this article. Kindly refer to our terms of use or write to us in case of any concern.

[1] Donella H Meadows, Jørgen Randers and Dennis L Meadows, Limits To Growth: The 30 Year Update (Chelsea Green Publishing 2004).

[2] 'Our Common Future' (United Nations 1987) <http://www.un-documents.net/our-common-future.pdf> accessed 25 June 2020.

[3] 'International Energy Agency World Energy Outlook ' (IEA Publications 2011) <https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2011> accessed 26 June 2020.

[4] ''International Energy Agency World Energy Outlook' (IEA Publications 2015) <https://webstore.iea.org/download/summary/224?fileName=English-WEO-2015-ES.pdf> accessed 26 June 2020.

[5] 'Sustainable Development Goal On Energy (SDG7) And The World Bank Group' (World Bank, 2016) <https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/energy/brief/sustainable-development-goal-on-energy-sdg7-and-the-world-bank-group> accessed 26 June 2020.

[6] Electricity Act 2003, s 4.

[7] 'Energy And The Challenge Of Sustainability - UNDP' (United Nations Development Programme 2000) <http://www.undp.org › aplaws › World Energy Assessment-2000> accessed 26 June 2020.

[8] Adrian J Bradbrook and Richard L Ottinger, Energy Law And Sustainable Development (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources 2003).

[9]Michael Jefferson (Undp.org) <https://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/Environment%20and%20Energy/Sustainable%20Energy/wea%202000/chapter12.pdf> accessed 25 June 2020.