The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Indian government ministry. The ministry portfolio is currently held by Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The ministry is responsible for planning, promoting, coordinating, and overseeing the implementation of environmental and forestry programmes in the country. The main activities undertaken by the ministry include conservation and survey of the flora of India and fauna of India, forests and other wilderness areas; prevention and control of pollution; afforestation, and land degradation mitigation. It is responsible for the administration of the 1947 national parks of India.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the cadre controlling authority of the Indian Forest Service (IFS), one of the three All India Services.
History
Environmental debates were first introduced into the national political agenda during Indira Gandhi’s first term as Prime Minister of India. The 4th Five-Year Plan (1969–74), for example, proclaimed “harmonious development on the basis of a comprehensive appraisal of environmental issues.” In 1977 (during the Emergency) Gandhi added Article 48A to the constitution stating that: “The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.” The same decree transferred wildlife and forests from state list to concurrent list of the constitution, thus giving the central government the power to overrule state decisions on that matter. Such political and constitutional changes prepared the groundwork for the creation of a federal Department of Environment in 1980, turned into the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1985. Although tackling climate change was already a responsibility of the ministry, its priority was raised when in May 2014 the ministry was renamed to the current title of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Organisation
- Indian Forest Service (IFS)
- Authorities
- Central Zoo Authority of India, New Delhi,
- National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai
- National Tiger Conservation Authority, New Delhi
- Subordinate offices
- Andaman & Nicobar Islands Forest and Plantation Development Corporation (Public Sector Undertaking)
- Animal Welfare Board of India, Chennai
- Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Kolkata
- Central Pollution Control Board
- Environmental Information System (ENVIS) founded 1983
- Odisha State Pollution Control Board
- Delhi Pollution Control Committee
- Directorate of Forest Education
- Forest Survey of India
- Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy
- National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board
- National Board of Wildlife
- National Institute of Animal Welfare
- National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), New Delhi
- National Zoological Park (NZP), New Delhi
- Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Kolkata
- Centres of excellence
- Centre for Environment Education, Ahmedabad
- C. P. R. Environmental Education Centre, Chennai
- Centre for Animals and Environment, Bangalore
- Centre of Excellence in Environmental Economics, Chennai
- Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions, Bangalore
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Bangalore
- Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystem, Delhi
- Centre for Mining Environment, Dhanbad
- Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Coimbatore
- Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram
- Autonomous institutions
- G. B.Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Almora
- Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal
- Indian Plywood Industries Research and Training Institute, Bengaluru
- Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun
- Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, India
List Of Ministers
| No | Name | Portrait | Term of office | Party | Prime Minister | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rajiv Gandhi |  |
31 December 1984 | 22 October 1986 | 1 year, 295 days | Indian National Congress | Rajiv Gandhi | |
| 2 | Bhajan Lal | 22 October 1986 | 14 February 1988 | 1 year, 115 days | ||||
| 3 | Ziaur Rahman Ansari (Independent Charge till 25 June 1988) |
14 February 1988 | 02 December 1989 | 1 year, 291 days | ||||
| 4 | V. P. Singh |  |
02 December 1989 | 23 April 1990 | 142 days | Janata Dal | V. P. Singh | |
| 5 | Nilamani Routray |  |
23 April 1990 | 10 November 1990 | 201 days | |||
| 6 | Maneka Gandhi (Independent Charge) |
 |
21 November 1990 | 21 June 1991 | 212 days | Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) | Chandra Shekhar | |
| 7 | Kamal Nath (Independent Charge) |
 |
21 June 1991 | 15 September 1995 | 4 years, 86 days | Indian National Congress | P. V. Narasimha Rao | |
| 8 | Rajesh Pilot (Independent Charge) |
 |
15 September 1995 | 16 May 1996 | 244 days | |||
| 9 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |  |
16 May 1996 | 01 June 1996 | 16 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | |
| 10 | H. D. Deve Gowda |  |
1 June 1996 | 29 June 1996 | 28 days | Janata Dal | H. D. Deve Gowda | |
| 11 | Jai Narain Prasad Nishad |  |
29 June 1996 | 21 February 1997 | 237 days | |||
| 12 | Saifuddin Soz |  |
21 February 1997 | 19 March 1998 | 1 year, 26 days | Jammu & Kashmir National Conference | H. D. Deve Gowda I. K. Gujral |
|
| 13 | Suresh Prabhu |  |
19 March 1998 | 13 October 1999 | 1 year, 208 days | Shiv Sena | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | |
| 14 | T. R. Baalu |  |
13 October 1999 | 21 December 2003 | 4 years, 69 days | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | ||
| (9) | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | |
21 December 2003 | 09 January 2004 | 19 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | ||
| 15 | Ramesh Bais(Independent Charge) |  |
09 January 2004 | 22 May 2004 | 134 days | |||
| 16 | A. Raja |  |
23 May 2004 | 15 May 2007 | 2 years, 357 days | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | Manmohan Singh | |
| 17 | Manmohan Singh |  |
15 May 2007 | 22 May 2009 | 2 years, 7 days | Indian National Congress | ||
| 18 | Jairam Ramesh (Independent Charge) |
 |
28 May 2009 | 12 July 2011 | 2 years, 45 days | |||
| 19 | Jayanthi Natarajan (Independent Charge) |
 |
12 July 2011 | 21 December 2013 | 2 years, 162 days | |||
| 20 | M. Veerappa Moily |  |
21 December 2013 | 26 May 2014 | 156 days | |||
| 21 | Prakash Javdekar (Independent Charge) |
 |
26 May 2014 | 05 July 2016 | 2 years, 40 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Narendra Modi | |
| 22 | Anil Madhav Dave (Independent Charge) |
 |
05 July 2016 | 18 May 2017 | 317 days | |||
| 23 | Dr. Harsh Vardhan |  |
18 May 2017 | 30 May 2019 | 2 years, 12 days | |||
| (21) | Prakash Javdekar | |
30 May 2019 | 7 July 2021 | 2 years, 38 days | |||
| 24 | Bhupender Yadav | 7 July 2021 | Incumbent | 22 days | ||||
Ministers of State
| Minister of state | Portrait | Political party | Term | Days | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mahesh Sharma |  |
Bharatiya Janata Party | 3 September 2017 | 30 May 2019 | 634 days | |
| Babul Supriyo |  |
30 May 2019 | 7 July 2021 | 769 days | ||
| Ashwini Kumar Choubey |  |
7 July 2021 | Incubment | 22 days | ||
Initiatives
In August 2019 Ministry of Environment released the Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy. It is a set of guidelines which envisions a future with environmentally sustainable and equitable economic growth. The policy is guided by principle of reduction in primary resource consumption; creation of higher value with less material through resource efficient circular approach; waste minimization; material security and creation of employment opportunities and business model beneficial to cause of environment protection and restoration.It was based on the report of NITI Aayog and European Union titled, The strategy on resource efficiency. The policy seeks to set up a National Resource Efficiency Authority with core working group housed in the Ministry. It also plans to offer tax benefits on recycled materials and soft loans to set up waste disposal and material recovery facilities.