UPSC Relevance -GS paper-3, Environment
Why in News?
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified the Environment Audit Rules, 2025, creating a new system to expand and professionalise India’s environmental compliance regime. For the first time, private environmental auditors will be accredited to assess industries and projects, supplementing the role of pollution control authorities.
This reform is being seen as a response to the growing challenge of monitoring thousands of industrial units in India, at a time when climate change, pollution, and sustainability have become central to both national and global policy debates.
Background
India’s environmental regulation has traditionally relied on:
- Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) (set up under the Water Act, 1974) — formulates national policies, sets pollution standards, coordinates with states.
- State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) (created under the Water Act, 1974, and Air Act, 1981) — issue consents to establish/operate industries, monitor compliance, and penalise violators.
Together, the CPCB and SPCBs form the backbone of India’s compliance system. However, they face serious constraints:
- Shortage of trained manpower and inspectors.
- Inadequate monitoring infrastructure and laboratories.
- Overlapping mandates with poor coordination.
- Rising workload due to industrial expansion, urbanisation, and climate-related regulations.
Example: According to a 2022 parliamentary report, some SPCBs had only one inspector for over 250 industrial units, making effective monitoring nearly impossible.
The Environment Audit Rules, 2025 aim to fill this gap by bringing in professional auditors, much like how chartered accountants ensure compliance in finance.
Key Features of the Rules
1.Accredited Environmental Auditors
- Private agencies and individuals can apply for accreditation.
- Once licensed, they will have powers to conduct audits of industrial units, checking compliance with pollution norms, waste management, water usage, and emission standards.
2.Integration with Emerging Frameworks
- Audit reports can be used for compliance with the Green Credit Programme (2023), which allows individuals and organisations to earn tradable credits for afforestation, water conservation, and waste reduction.
- Companies will also need audits for carbon accounting — both direct (Scope 1 & 2 emissions) and indirect (Scope 3 supply chain emissions).
Example: An IT company may be required to report not only its own power consumption but also emissions from vendors, employee travel, and data centres.
3.Professional Model
- Auditors will function like financial auditors, independent of the SPCBs but accountable to MoEFCC.
- Ensures that compliance is continuous, not just during one-time inspections.
Significance of the Move
1.Bridging Manpower Deficits
- Expands monitoring capacity beyond the limited staff of CPCB/SPCBs.
- Enables continuous auditing of over 1.5 million registered industrial units in India.
2.Improving Corporate Accountability
- Industries will now require independent verification of their pollution levels, waste management, and carbon footprints.
- Reduces scope for underreporting or “greenwashing.”
Example: In Gujarat, “environmental auditors” for chemical industries have already been piloted, helping to identify effluent discharge violations more effectively.
3.Economic Incentives
Links compliance with Green Credits, turning sustainability into a market-driven activity.
Encourages businesses to invest in cleaner technologies for long-term savings.
4.Alignment with Global Commitments
- Supports India’s NDCs under the Paris Agreement, especially on emission intensity reduction and renewable adoption.
- Strengthens India’s credibility in climate negotiations.
Challenges Ahead
1.Grassroots Monitoring Gaps
- Many of the worst violations occur at the district, block, and panchayat level (illegal sand mining, untreated sewage, waste dumping), which private auditors may not cover.
- Local SPCB offices remain underfunded and understaffed.
2.Conflict of Interest
Since industries themselves may hire auditors, there is risk of compromised independence, much like corporate-financial auditor scandals.
Example: Past cases of “self-certification” by companies (e.g., thermal plants under-reporting emissions) highlight this risk.
3.Capacity Building
Environmental audits require highly skilled expertise in fields like air dispersion modelling, carbon accounting, and toxicology.
India currently lacks enough trained professionals.
4.Accountability & Transparency
If audit reports are not made publicly accessible, local communities may remain unaware of violations in their neighbourhoods.
Way Forward
- Empower Local Institutions: Strengthen SPCBs with funding, training, and digital monitoring tools to complement private auditors.
- Independent Accreditation: Ensure auditors are licensed by a neutral body (not industry-linked) to avoid conflicts of interest.
- Public Transparency: Mandate that all audit reports be published online in local languages.
- Community Participation: Enable gram sabhas and urban local bodies to access and act upon audit findings.
- Digital Monitoring Tools: Use remote sensing, AI-based pollution trackers, IoT sensors for real-time verification.
Example: The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) already uses real-time monitors in cities — a similar system can be scaled for industrial units.
Conclusion
The Environment Audit Rules, 2025 mark a turning point in India’s environmental governance. By opening the compliance system to professional auditors, the government seeks to overcome structural weaknesses of the CPCB and SPCBs. This creates space for a more robust, market-linked, and globally aligned system of environmental regulation.
However, reforms must not sideline grassroots violations, which often affect ordinary citizens most directly. For India’s environment audit regime to succeed, it must be transparent, inclusive, and accountable, empowering not just industries and auditors but also local communities.
If implemented effectively, these rules can indeed be a “new leaf” in environmental compliance — turning regulation into a driver of both sustainability and growth.
UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
Q1. With reference to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), consider the following statements:
- It was constituted under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
- It also performs functions under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
- It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Options:
A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2 and 3 only
C. 1 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3
Answer: D. 1, 2 and 3
Q2. The newly notified Environment Audit Rules, 2025 aim to:
- Allow private agencies to be accredited as environmental auditors.
- Enable audits to be used for compliance with the Green Credit Programme.
- Replace the Central and State Pollution Control Boards with private auditors.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Options:
A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2 and 3 only
C. 1 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3
Answer: A. 1 and 2 only
UPSC Mains Practice Questions
Q “The Environment Audit Rules, 2025 mark a turning point in India’s environmental governance. Critically examine their significance and challenges.”(150 words, 10 marks)
SOURCE- THE HINDU
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