India’s Approach to International Environmental Law in Reference to Ancient Ideology in Comparison to Politico-Legal Thought of Present Public International Law with Reflective Attitude

In the world history, 17 century had profound impact on the Earth and its nations as it concerned with the Industrial Revolution. The industrial revolution had a mammoth impact on the environment in terms of shift from green environment to black environment. The year 1972, the United Nations and countries of the world had convened a conference for the Human Environment. The actions initiated in the Conference had been the foundation for the protection and sustenance of the environment for the human species. The year 1987, the United Nations published report on Environment and Development: Our Common Future for International Environmental Law on environment as fountainhead to safeguard and sustainable development. The subsequent years followed the United Nations and countries of North and South joining hand and feet together for the common objective of Save Environment and Save Earth. The expression of the objective to save environment reflected in the subsequent United Nations undertaken agreements, conferences and the programmes in terms of United Nations Environment Program, 1992, 2002, 2012 conferences on Human environment and Program on Climate Change. The current stream of international environmental law seeks establishing relation between rights and needs of man and rights of environment. In the matrix of international agreements for environmental protection, environment serves as means to an end to man’s goal to progress. The ancient Indian literature comprising of Mandukya Upanishad, suggests nothing is outside man, that there is no separate entity. The Isavasya Upanishad tells there is no separation between man and other beings in the Universe. This paper focuses on the Indian approach to understanding environment in ancient jurisprudence and its significance to human life and attempts to bring two times and spaces. The paper engages with the theme to establish the link between Indian environmentalism and Western environmental approach.