APPLICATION OF ECONOMIC TOOLS IN ENVIRONMENT AND LAW: A STEP TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND GREEN ECONOMY IN INDIA

by Advocate Ambika Gupta

Abstract

The phrase “green economy” has gained popularity worldwide, with every nation presently emphasizing environmental concerns, embracing the green economy as their main economic model, and pursuing sustainable development. India is currently having trouble balancing its slow attempts to reduce the effects of climate change and coping with its usual economic expansion agenda. Currently, in order to combat climate change, closing down industries or scaling back the production system will have an impact on the Indian economy. Adopting the strict green approach will have detrimental consequences on trade, employment, agricultural output, and business practices. As a result, new policies, budgetary changes, and the advancement of resource efficiency are unquestionably needed. In light of this, the manuscript uses a variety of economic tools, including the Kuznets Curve, the Law relating to Property Rights and how it relates to the Law of Demand, and Cost (Benefit) Analysis, to argue against the use of the command-and-control method of punishing environmental offenders. The author, among other things, makes the case that the use of economic tools in the field of environmental law can aid in the effort to transform the conventional economy into a green economy without having a negative effect on GDP, while also highlighting the effects of environmental degradation on per capita income and the marginal cost of pollution associated with society and developmental projects. However, in doing so and offering a different paradigm for aligning the green economy’s tenets with economic growth, the question of how these financial instruments should be used is also raised.

Key Words: Cost-Benefit Analysis, Environmental Kuznets Curve, Green Growth, Marginal Cost of Pollution, Pigouvian tax, Property Rights.

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