ABSTRACT
The three sections in this chapter provide a collective snapshot of how India’s parliament has engaged with climate change. An opening perspective by Hon. Suresh Prabhu, MP and former Minister, Environment and Forests, discusses both the potential for and limitations of India’s Parliament as a primary point of interface with climate politics. Following this perspective are two sets of excerpts from debates held in the Indian Parliament: one before the Copenhagen climate negotiations in the Lok Sabha, and one after Copenhagen in the Rajya Sabha. Selections from these debates were chosen in order to provide a flavour of the breadth of the debate, and also to provide both critique and defence of government actions. These debates have been reproduced here with permission from the Hon. Speaker of Lok Sabha and the Hon. Chairman of Rajya Sabha. (Editor’s Note)
Debate on climate change in Parliament is a new and interesting phenomenon. But it needs to be seen within the larger context of legislative debates in India. The interest of the political class in climate change cannot always be determined by what happens in Parliament. This is because what gets debated in Parliament is not always the priority of the country. Often, what one says in Parliament can be at odds with the current priorities of the outside world. There is very limited time available for debate in Parliament. As a number of issues need to be raised in such a limited time not all issues that warrant action get debated. But this in no way is an indication of the priorities of MPs. It would be inadvisable to conclude that MPs do not attach any importance to climate change issues based simply on evidence from the floor of the house. MPs have to raise issues relevant to their own constituencies; there is predetermined legislative business. So we cannot really judge the importance our MPs give to climate change by mere time devoted to its debate in Parliament. There are various other ways through which MPs engage with climate change issues including Standing Committees, letters to ministers, their own party fora, and public platforms on which they offer their comments.
