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Recently, a UK-based teenager, Oran Knowlson, has become the first person in the world to be fitted with a brain implant to help bring his epileptic seizures under control.

Epilepsy

• About: Epilepsy, a condition that leads to recurring seizures, sees a person experience jerking of arms and legs, temporary confusion, staring spells, or stiff muscles.
• Causes: It is caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain.
• Status in India: In India, between 3 and 11.9 per 1,000 people suffer from epilepsy, according to a comment in a 2022 Lancet study. Although several anti-seizure medicines are available in the market, 30% of the patients remain resistant to treatment.
• Process: The cells in your brain send messages to and receive messages from all areas of your body. These messages are transmitted via a continuous electrical impulse that travels from cell to cell.
  • Epilepsy disrupts this rhythmic electrical impulse pattern. Instead, there are bursts of electrical energy — like an unpredictable lightning storm — between cells in one or more areas of your brain. 
  • This electrical disruption causes changes in your awareness (including loss of consciousness), sensations, emotions and muscle movements.
• Treatment: Doctors first use anti-seizure medicines and a ketogenic diet, which is high in fats and low in carbohydrates.

Brain Implant Device

• Working: The neurostimulator delivers constant electrical impulses to the brain to disrupt or block abnormal seizure-causing signals. A 3.5 cm square, 0.6 cm in thickness, the device was surgically implanted in Knowlson’s skull and anchored using screws.
• Procedure: The doctor then inserted two electrodes deep into his brain until they reached the thalamus — a relay station for all the motor and sensory information. The ends of the electrodes were connected to the neurostimulator.
• Recharge: It can be recharged by a wireless headphone.

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DBS

• About: The device uses DBS, which is also utilised for movement disorders associated with Parkinson’s, and other neurological conditions.
• New DBS Method: Although DBS has been tried before for childhood epilepsy, until now neurostimulators were placed in the chest (instead of the brain), with wires running up to the brain where the leads were placed on the affected region.
• Effectiveness: Surgery is still preferable to implanting a DBS device. Currently, the DBS devices available in the market reduce seizures by around 40%. In comparison, seizures drop by nearly 90% if the patient undergoes surgery.

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Recently, in a research published in the journal Genetics highlights when MCTP2 gene is mutated, the ability to recognise faces is severely impaired.

• MCTP2 gene: It  is required for a higher form of visual social cognition in humans.

MCTP2 Gene Mutation

Individuals carrying the mutant gene took much longer than socially acceptable to recognise people with whom they were expected to be familiar

• Recently, the researchers found the same mutation in one family
• By sequencing the genomic DNA, the researchers found that the MCTP2 gene, located in this segment, had been altered by a mutation. 
• As a result, one amino acid in the protein encoded by the MCTP2 gene had been replaced by another. 

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Gene Mutations

A mutation is a change in the DNA sequence of an organism. 

• Mutations can result from errors in DNA replication during cell division, exposure to mutagens or a viral infection. 
• Germline mutations (that occur in eggs and sperm) can be passed on to offspring, while somatic mutations (that occur in body cells) are not passed on.

Gene Mutations Can Occur Due To A Variety Of Causes

It can be broadly categorised into internal (endogenous) and external (exogenous) factors:Endogenous Factors

• Errors During DNA Replication:
  • Mismatched Bases: Sometimes, the wrong base is inserted during DNA replication.

• • Slippage: During replication, the DNA polymerase may slip, leading to insertions or deletions.
• Spontaneous Chemical Changes:
  • Deamination: The removal of an amino group from a base, e.g., cytosine converting to uracil.
  • Depurination: The loss of a purine base (adenine or guanine) from the DNA.

Exogenous Factors Radiation

• Ultraviolet (UV) Light: Causes thymine dimers, where two adjacent thymine bases bond together.
  • Ionizing Radiation: Includes X-rays and gamma rays, which can cause double-strand breaks and other serious damage.
• Chemical Mutagens: Chemicals that resemble DNA bases and can be incorporated into DNA, leading to incorrect base pairing.
• Viruses: Some viruses can integrate their DNA into the host genome, causing mutations.

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Lifestyle and Environmental Factors

• Smoking: Tobacco smoke contains many mutagenic chemicals that can cause DNA damage.
• Diet: Certain dietary components can influence mutation rates, either by direct interaction with DNA or through metabolic processes.
• Pollutants: Environmental pollutants such as asbestos, heavy metals, and industrial chemicals can cause mutations.

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Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe reported the most precise mass measurement of the Top Quark at 172.52 GeV/c2 having implications for the whole universe.

About Quarks

• Elementary particles: Quarks are the ultimate building blocks of visible matter in the universe.
  • They make up the protons and neutrons of an atom and lies on the ground floor of the Standard Model of particle physics.
• Experimental Evidence: At the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in California in 1968, experimenters fired electrons, and muons, at protons, and found evidence that the electrons and muons were scattering off three smaller particles contained within the protons with each having their own electric charge.
• Bonds: Under normal condition Quarks are always bound together by the strong nuclear force and never exist alone forming composite particles called hadrons. 
  • Baryons: These are the particles made of three quarks which include protons (two up and one down quark) and neutrons (one up and two down quarks).
    • Particles made of two quarks are called mesons.
• Flavours: In the present standard model, there are six “flavors” of quarks with each having its own set of quantum numbers, and with different masses.
• • Up quark; Down quark; Strange quarks; Charm quark; Bottom quarks;Top quark ( It is the heaviest with a mass over 61,000 times more than the up quark)

About Top Quark

• Top Quark is the most massive particle scientists have found to date.
  • It is 10-times heavier than a water molecule, about three-times as much as a copper atom, and 95% as much as a full caffeine molecule.
• Decay: The top quark is a very unstable particle and breaks up into lighter, more stable particles in less than 10−25 seconds.
  • By the mass-energy equivalence, a more massive particle is also a more energetic particle and the more energetic particles often break down into ones with less energy.
• Discovery: Top Quark was discovered in 1995 at a particle accelerator in the US called the Tevatron, measuring its mass to be 151-197 GeV/c2 at first.
  • Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe reported the most precise figure yet at 172.52 GeV/c2.

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Significance of measuring the precise mass of Top Quark

• To understand Higgs Boson: Higgs Boson interacts most strongly with the top quark as it is the most massive subatomic particle. By measuring the top quark’s mass as precisely as possible, a lot can be known about the Higgs boson as well.
  • Higgs Boson interacts with particles providing them with their mass. Without this aspect of nature no particles would have mass.
• Universe quantum tunnelling event: Measuring the top quark mass precisely has implications for whether our universe will tunnel out of existence as The Higgs boson with its mass of 126 GeV/c2 is the precise enough to keep the universe in its current state.
  • The atoms of most chemical elements will be destroyed, taking stars, galaxies, and earthlife with them if the Higgs field was slightly stronger than it is now. 
• Peculiar nature: To determine its oddball nature as on the one hand, it is the one closest to the Higgs boson’s mass and on the other hand, all the other particles like it are much, much lighter.
• Researchers will be able to  incorporate the top quark’s mass measurement into calculations that inform our understanding of our universe’s particles.
• Finding more particles: Precisely measuring the top quark’s mass is also key to knowing whether some other particle with mass close to that of the top quark could be hiding in the data.

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The Indian Men’s cricket team remains stranded in Barbados following the T20 World Cup win due to Hurricane Beryl, currently surging through the Windward Islands.

• The hurricane has led to the closure of the Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados and stalled all flight services indefinitely.

Hurricanes and their Formation

• Definition: Hurricanes, also known as tropical cyclones, are powerful storm systems that use warm, moist air as fuel and typically form over warm ocean waters near the equator.
• Parts of a Hurricane:
  • Eye: The calm centre of the storm.
  • Eye Wall: Surrounds the eye and is where most activity occurs.
  • Rain Bands: Extend further out from the eye.
• Formation Process:
  • Warm, Moist Air Rising: Warm ocean water heats the air above it, causing the air to rise. As the warm air rises, it creates an area of low air pressure below.
  • Air Movement: The surrounding air rushes in to fill the low-pressure area. This new air also heats up and rises, continuing the cycle.
  • Cloud Formation: As the warm air rises and cools, the moisture in the air condenses to form clouds.
  • System Growth: The system of clouds and winds continues to grow and spin.  It is fueled by the heat from the ocean and the water evaporating from its surface.
  • Formation of the Eye: As the storm system rotates faster, an eye forms in the centre. The eye is characterised by calm weather and low pressure.
• Rotation Direction: The rotation of the Hurricanes is due to the Coriolis effect, caused by the Earth’s rotation.
  • Storms in the Northern Hemisphere rotate counterclockwise.
  • Storms in the Southern Hemisphere rotate clockwise.
• Main Threats due to Hurricanes:
  • Storm Surge: An abnormal rise of water generated by a storm.
  • Inland Flooding: Flooding that occurs inland due to heavy rainfall.

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The Severity of Hurricanes and Recent Findings

• Weakening After Landfall: Hurricanes typically weaken after making landfall because they are cut off from the ocean’s moisture, which fuels them.
• Recent Research Findings:
  • A study published in ‘Nature’ suggests that hurricanes are decaying more slowly in a warming world.
  • Reason: Warmer sea surface temperatures induce a slower decay by increasing the amount of moisture that a hurricane carries with it as it hits the land.
  • Example- Last week, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) noted that subtropical storm Theta, in the Northeast Atlantic, became the 29th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season. This beats the record for the most named storms previously held by the 2005 hurricane season.

Difference between a hurricane and a tropical storm

• Terminology based on Location: There is no difference. As per NASA, the scientific name for all these kinds of storms is tropical cyclones.
• Hurricanes may be called typhoons or cyclones depending on where they occur:
• • Hurricanes in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific.
  • Typhoons in the Northwest Pacific.
  • Cyclones in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific.
• Tropical storms that form in the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea are called cyclones.

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The 16th Finance Commission (FC) has begun its work which was constituted on December 31st 2023.

• The Finance commission is established under Article 280 of the Indian Constitution, primarily focusing on the devolution of the consolidated fund.

McKinsey Global Institute Report, Need for Increased Investment in Urban Infrastructure 

• Report by McKinsey Global Institute: It warns that if India continues investing in urban infrastructure at current rates, urban infrastructure will fall short, leading to water supply issues and untreated sewage.

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Agenda For The 16th Finance Commission

Since the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments, local bodies have gained significant recognition within the federal system. These amendments introduced sub-clauses 280(3)(bb) and (c), which mandate the FC to recommend measures to augment State consolidated funds for supporting panchayats and municipalities.

Population-based classification of Cities

Conclusion

The 16th Finance Commission must consider India’s urbanisation dynamism and ensure IGTs to urban areas are at least doubled. 

• Few guiding principles of the 15th FC’s– reference to enhancement in property tax collection in tandem to the State’s GST; maintenance of accounts; resource allocation for mitigating pollution; focus on primary health care, solid waste management, drinking water, etc., deserve attention. 

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Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has approved Rs 56 crore for the next phase of the conservation of Great Indian Bustard (GIB) and Lesser Florican.

• As of now, around 140 GIBs and fewer than 1,000 Lesser Floricans are surviving in the wild.

Conservation Programme 

• It has been running since 2016 for long-term recovery of critically endangered GIB and Lesser Florican.

• Components of programme:
  • First component: It comprises targets such as completion of the conservation breeding centre (CBC) in Jaisalmer’s Ramdevra, development of the Sorsan Lesser Florican facility, preparatory work for releasing captive-bred birds, release of GIBs in Rajasthan and other range states, post-release monitoring and artificial insemination.
  • Second component: It comprises in-situ conservation of GIBs in other range states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. 

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• • • This component will be implemented by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) along with state governments. Between 2024-2026: Wildlife Institute of India (WII) will also undertake GIB population estimation in Jaisalmer, its range states and rangewide population estimation of the lesser florican.
• Rewilding won’t begin before 2027: Until then WII plans to collect two to four eggs of the GIB and six to ten eggs of Lesser Florican each year.
• Captive-bred Bustards: Release sites will be identified. These Bustards will be trained for release and soft release enclosures will also be developed.
• 2024-2029 Phase: This will also target developing and implementation of artificial insemination techniques as a back-up to the captive-breeding conservation, scientists working on the project said. 
• The WII has been collaborating with the Abu Dhabi-based International Fund for Houbara Conservation for the same.

About Great Indian Bustard

• GIBs are the largest among the four-bustard species found in India.
  • The other three being 
    1. MacQueen’s bustard
    2. Lesser florican 
    3. Bengal florican
• Conservation Status:
  • International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List (IUCN): Critically Endangered
  • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): Appendix1
  • Convention on Migratory Species (CMS): Appendix I
  • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
• Great Indian Bustard is the state bird of Rajasthan.
• Habitat: Today, its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat. Small populations occur in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
• Significance: GIBs are considered the flagship bird species of grassland and hence barometers of the health of grassland ecosystems
• Characteristics:
  • Great Indian bustards are tall birds with long legs and long necks; the tallest individuals may stand up to 1.2 metres (4 feet) high.
  • Males and females are distinguished by the colour of their feathers.
  • Lifespan: 12-15 years
  • GIBs are a slow-reproducing species: They lay a few eggs and have almost a year-long parental care of chicks. The GIB achieves maturity in around 3-4 years.
  • Food Habits: Great Indian bustards are omnivores. They prey on grass seeds, insects l, and sometimes even small rodents and reptiles.
• Threat: Due to their poor frontal vision, the birds can’t spot overhead power lines from a distance, and are too heavy to change course when close. 
  • Thus, they collide with the cables and die.
  • Recently, the Supreme Court constituted a seven-member committee to find a balance between conservation measures for the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) and efforts to generate renewable energy in the same regions.

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About Lesser Florican

Lesser Florican (Sypheotides indicus), often referred to as the likh or kharmore, is the smallest bustard Endemism: It’s endemic to the Indian Subcontinent, where it lives in tall grasses 

• Conservation status:
  • Wildlife Protection Act,1972: Schedule I
  • CITES: Appendix II
• Mating Strategy: The most characteristic feature of the bird is the mating strategy. 
  • During the breeding season, males are seen folding their legs and leaping upwards, reaching a height of about 2 to 3 metres. 
  • They flutter rapidly, even up to 600 times a day, while emitting a croak-like sound.
• Habitat: States of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and parts of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. 

Steps Taken to Protect

• 2013-2016: Plans to recover the species first started in 2013 under the National Bustard Recovery Plan, which later gave way to the Bustard Recovery Project in 2016. 
• In July 2018: A tripartite agreement was signed between MoEFCC, Rajasthan forest department and WII.
  • As part of the project run by the three parties, two GIB conservation breeding centres and one Lesser Florican centre are functioning in Rajasthan’s Sam, Ramdevra and Sorsan respectively.
• Project Great Indian Bustard: It has been launched by the Rajasthan government with an aim of constructing breeding enclosures for the species.
• GIB species recovery programme: Under this, the Wildlife Institute of India and Rajasthan forest department jointly set up breeding centers where GIB eggs harvested from the wild were incubated artificially.
• The Supreme Court is also monitoring the GIB and Lesser Florican conservation programme: A petition seeking protection of the two species is pending before it. 
  • Earlier, the SC had ordered burying power transmission lines in GIB habitat in Rajasthan and Gujarat in 2021
  • However, it recalled its order in 2024 after the Centre submitted that the exercise would be expensive and impractical. 
  • The SC also tasked an expert committee to study the issue.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has signed an agreement with the ASEAN nations to  join Project Nexus.   

Founding Members and Future Expansion

• Founding Members: The FPSs of Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and India are the founding members and first movers of Project Nexus.
• Future Member: Indonesia is expected to join the platform in the future.

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What is Project Nexus?

• It is a multilateral international initiative
• Project Nexus is initiated by the Innovation Hub of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
• First in Payments Area: It is the first Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub project in the payments area to move towards live implementation.
• Objective: To enable instant cross-border retail payments.
• Interlinking Systems: Domestic Fast Payments Systems (FPSs) will be interconnected.
• Countries:
  • India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
  • Fast Payments System (FPS) of Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand

India’s Role in Project Nexus

• Bilateral Collaborations: The RBI has been linking India’s UPI with FPSs of various countries for cross-border Person to Person (P2P) and Person to Merchant (P2M) payments.
• Multilateral Approach: While bilateral connections are beneficial, a multilateral approach like Project Nexus will further expand the international reach of Indian payment systems.

Benefits of Project Nexus

• Standardization: Nexus standardizes the way instant payment systems connect with each other, eliminating the need for custom connections for every new country.
• Single Connection: Operators can make one connection to the Nexus platform, which then allows them to reach all other countries in the network.
• Speed and Cost Efficiency: The platform aims to enable cross-border payments within 60 seconds at near-zero cost to the sender or recipient, leveraging the existing instant payment systems.

Challenges of Project Nexus

• Technical Challenges

  • Interoperability: Ensuring smooth communication between different real-time payment networks.
  • Security and Fraud Prevention: Protecting cross-border transactions from fraud and security threats.

• Regulatory Hurdles

  • Compliance: Adhering to different regulatory frameworks across countries.
  • Legal Clarity: Defining legal responsibilities and liabilities clearly.

• Funding

  • Allocation of resources: Efficiently allocating resources for the development and implementation of the project.

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The recent judgement of the Supreme Court of India in M.K. Ranjitsinh and Ors. vs Union of India & Ors., provides an intriguing opportunity to think and enact much more systematic governance around climate change.

• The judgement advocated the right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change, identifying both the right to life and the right to equality as its sources.

On Climate Right In India, Background and Evolution of the Judgment

The Supreme Court passed its judgement in a case titled M K Ranjitsinh & Ors versus Union of India & Ors regarding the protection of two critically endangered bird species on the IUCN Red List – the great Indian bustard (GIB) and the lesser florican. 

• • Both are scheduled species listed under Part III of Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. 
• Petition: The judgement came on a long pending petition by wildlife activist MK Ranjitsinh and others to protect the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) (Ardeotis nigriceps).
• Earlier Judgment: In April 2021, the Court placed restrictions on the setting up of overhead transmission lines. 
  • Setting of Expert Committee: A committee was appointed to evaluate the laying of underground high-voltage lines on a case-to-case basis. 
  • On Powerlines: All low-voltage power lines were directed to be laid underground in the “priority” and “potential” habitats of GIB in the future. 
    • For existing power lines, bird diverters were to be installed that were pending for the conversion of overhead power lines into underground power lines.
• The Union Government’s Position: Since the major solar and wind energy-producing installations of India are in Rajasthan and Gujarat area, the Centre claimed the court’s directions will harm India’s global commitments to reduce the carbon footprint by increasing dependence on renewable energy sources.
• Supreme Court’s Action: The court recalled an earlier order requiring the undergrounding of overhead transmission lines across an area of over 80,000 sq. km. in the two states.
• Recent Judgement: In April 2024, the Court placed its reliance on several reports by the Wildlife Institute of India, identifying 13,663 square km as the “priority area”; 80,680 square km as “potential areas”; and 6,654 square km as “additional important areas” for the GIB.
  • Formation of an Expert Committee: The bench formed an expert committee comprising independent experts, members of the National Board of Wildlife, representatives of power companies, and former and serving bureaucrats drawn from departments of environment and forests and ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE).
  • Aim: The Committee is formed to suggest ways to balance two objectives – the conservation of the bird and India’s sustainable development goals. 
    • The committee’s first report is expected by July 31.

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Implications of the Judgment for Environmental Jurisprudence

It historically stated that people have a right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change recognised by Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution.

• Strengthening Environmental & Climate Justice: The judgement puts the focus on strengthening environmental and climate justice by highlighting the multiple impacts of climate change on a range of communities.
• Expansion of Article 14 & Article 21: These have been expanded by the apex court to include a right to clean environment. 
  • The judgement not only looks to curb environmental pollution, but also proactively outlines environmental and climate justice issues, keeping our international commitments in mind.
• Establishment of Legal Precedent: As per experts, the judgement will set an important legal precedent, and will influence the broader public discourse on environmental matters, and has the potential to shape future government policies.

Arising Issues with the Judgment

This judgement opens the door to climate litigation, empowering citizens to demand from the government that this right be protected. But, also leaves following challenges: 

• Unresolved Questions: The judgement leaves unresolved questions regarding the court’s emphasis on large-scale clean energy agenda as the main pathway to avoiding climate harms and correspondingly, understate climate adaptation and local environmental resilience.
• Unclarity: The court also did not clarify how this right against the adverse effects of climate change will be protected.
• No Umbrella Legislation: The judgement itself states that there is no ‘umbrella legislation’ in India that relates to climate change. 

Potential Approaches to Realise the Right Against the Adverse Effects of Climate Change

Following two approaches can be followed to realise this right against the adverse effects of climate change:

• Court-based Action: The proliferation of court-based action through enhanced litigation around climate claims, will likely lead, slowly and over time, to an incomplete patchwork of (judiciary-led) protections. 
  • Moreover, a patchwork approach is less likely to chart an overarching framework to guide future policy.
• Climate Legislation: A preferred approach, the enactment of climate legislation can provide an overarching, framework legislation to guide future policy.
  • Drawing from the experience of other countries, framework legislation can bring several advantages. 
  • It can set the vision for engaging with climate change across sectors and regions, create necessary institutions and endow them with powers, and put in place processes for structured and deliberative governance in anticipation of and reaction to climate change.

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Need for Climate Legislation in India

These are important advantages, and good reasons for India to consider climate legislation. But at the same time, it is essential that Indian climate legislation not blindly copy other countries, and is tailored to the Indian context.

• Transition to a Low-Carbon Energy Future: In the Ranjitsinh judgement, it is highlighted that India needs to transition to a low-carbon energy future to enforce a right against the adverse effects of climate change. 
• For Supportive Regulatory Environment: Climate legislation should also create a supportive regulatory environment for more sustainable cities, buildings, and transport networks. 
• Mainstreaming and Internalising Climate Change Considerations: It should provide a way of mainstreaming and internalising climate change considerations into how India develops. 
  • To enable adaptation measures such as heat action plans sensitive to local context. 
  • To provide mechanisms for shifting to more climate-resilient crops. 
  • To protect key ecosystems such as mangroves that act as a buffer against extreme weather events. 
  • To actively consider questions of social equity in how it achieves these tasks. 

Challenge that Need to Be Considered and Tackled

Having a single, omnibus law that covers all these areas is not feasible, particularly in the face of an existing legal framework that legislates on most of these issues. 

Way Forward

The following points provide a set of principles for a climate law tailored to India, one that provides a basis for taking forward and fulfilling the promise of the Ranjitsinh judgement.

• Legislation as per Indian Federalism: As many areas relevant to climate action such as urban policy, agriculture and water fall under the authority of sub-national governments — States or local levels, and electricity also is a concurrent subject. 
  • An Indian climate law must simultaneously set a framework for coherent national action while decentralising sufficiently to empower States and local governments, and enable them with information and finance to take effective action.
• Learn from International Experience: India is still developing, is highly vulnerable, and yet to build much of its infrastructure, what the country needs is a law that enables progress toward both low-carbon and climate resilient development. To achieve the desired targets, India can learn from other countries.
  • Regulatory Law: It focuses narrowly on regulating carbon emissions, for example, by setting regular five yearly national carbon budgets and then putting in place mechanisms to meet them. 
    • Example: UK
  • An Enabling Law: It can be written to stimulate development-focused decisions in a range of sectors across the economy by systematically asking whether each decision moves the country closer to or further from low-carbon growth and climate resilience. 
    • Importantly, this approach emphasises adaptation as much as mitigation.
    • An enabling law is likely to be a more procedurally-oriented law, one that systematically creates the institutions, processes and standards for mainstreaming climate change.
    • Such a law would build in procedures to support knowledge-sharing, ensuring transparency and avenues for public participation and expert consultation, prompting meaningful setting (and revision) of targets and timelines and reporting against these.
    • Example: Kenya
• Enabling Participation in Decision Making: The enabling role should ideally also extend beyond government. Business, civil society and communities, particularly those on the frontlines of climate impacts, have essential knowledge to bring to energy transition and resilience. 
  • Finding ways of enabling participation in decision making would enable all these sections of society to bring their knowledge to the table in addressing climate change. 
  • An effective Indian climate law based on enabling procedures would also provide opportunities for voice to diverse segments of society.

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