POLLUTER PAYS PRINCIPLE

Suresh Giri.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1972 introduced a

breakthrough concept which was highlighted as PPP or Polluter Pays Principle. This
principle is aimed at reduction of environmental damages that the member countries do while
consolidating the economies of their respective countries. This principle brings a practice of
bearing the cost of damage prevention by those who does the maximum pollution.
“Pollure” is a Latin word which means contamination. Section 2(a) of The Environment
(Protection) Act,1986 defines environmental pollution as, “the presence in the environment
of any environment pollutant and hazardous substance”. The same Act further defines
environmental pollutant and hazardous substance under Section29(b) and 2(e) respectively.
The other legislations include the deeper definitions about their respective pollutions like The
Water Act, 1971 which defines water pollution and the Air Act 1981 defines air pollution.
It is said that around 4.2 million deaths per year occurs due to air pollution where 2 million
deaths are accounted for India. Today India is leading in air pollution but has challenges to
economically sustain itself in the world stage. The principle of Polluter Pays disallows
pursuits of such countries who are willing to sabotage their environment for the sake of
economy. However, it is an established fact that without a strong economy, a country cannot
sustain itself. When it comes to country like India, there must be a stronger economy. It is
through the wonders of Polluter Pays Principle today we have transformed from BS4 to BS6
skipping BS5. Here, BS stands for Bharat Stage signifying emission standards instituted by
the Government of India. It is done to regulate the output of air pollutants from vehicular and
non-vehicular engines. A great deal can be made by switching to electric vehicles. FAME
(Faster adoption and manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicle) is a step forward and a
lot can be done through this flagship initiative.
Today, all the colleges are taught Environmental Studies irrespective of their streams and
subjects. It was mandated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India through the PIL (Public
Interest Litigation) filed by an advocate, M.C Mehta. In the similar manner, Bhutan a tiny
Himalayan Kingdom of Asia has become carbon negative. Which means that they consume
more carbon than they produce. This is possible only through a clean environment, through
the greeneries. The concept of PPP is however not simply intended to look into the affairs of
a particular country. It has its greater ambitions to check world level greenhouse gases which
have been a driving force for climate change. Now the question arises as to how a payment
has to be made? After all it says Polluter pays. There is Carbon Price. According to World
Bank, there are several paths governments can take to price carbon, all leading to the same
result. They begin to capture what are known as external cost of carbon emissions- cost that
public pays for in other ways, such as damage to crops and healthcare caused from heat
waves and droughts or to property from flooding and sea level rise- and tie them to their
source through a price on carbon. PPP helps shift the burden for the damage back to those
who are responsible for it, and who can reduce it. Instead of dictating who should reduce the
emissions where and how, a carbon price gives an economic signal and polluters decide for
themselves whether to discontinue their polluting activity, reduce emissions or continue
polluting and pay for it. In this way the overall environmental goal is achieved in the most
flexible and least-cost way to society. The carbon price also stimulates clean technology and
market innovations, fuelling new, low carbon drivers of economic growth.
Today 58 carbon pricing initiatives have been implemented or is scheduled for
implementation. Total 46 national jurisdiction are covered by the initiatives selected and 31
sub-national jurisdictions are covered by the initiatives selected. In 2019, these initiatives
have covered 11GtCO2e (greenhouse gas total are expressed in terms of millions of tonnes of
global annual CO2 equivalent emissions eg. GtCO2e/year), representing 20.1% of global
GHG (Green House Gas) emissions.
India has witnessed lots of such instances where pollution has caused havoc. The perils of
Bhopal Gas tragedy can still be seen today due to the genetic mutation. The problems of
oleum gas leak and many such have posted a serious threat to India time and again. Now it is
high time for India as a Third World country to take optimum benefit from this principle.
With schemes like FAME, standards like BS6, a great deal of technological advancements
can be made possible and India can once again come up with flying colours.