Climate Change Economics — Policy Reforms

Entry	Year	Description	Impact
42nd Amendment Act	1976	This amendment inserted Article 48A into the Directive Principles of State Policy, mandating the State to 'protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country.' It also added Article 51A(g) as a Fundamental Duty, obliging every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment.	The 42nd Amendment provided a constitutional mandate for environmental protection, significantly influencing subsequent environmental legislation and policy in India. Economically, it laid the groundwork for state-led initiatives and expenditures on environmental conservation, pollution control, and sustainable resource management. It elevated environmental concerns to a constitutional imperative, guiding economic planning and resource allocation towards ecological sustainability and influencing the 'sustainable development goals economics' [VY:ECO-12-01] framework.