UGC NET LAW (058) · UNIT 08 · REVISION
Environment and Human Rights Rapid-Recall Sheet
Each line is a typical direct-recall item. Use it in the last days of revision, after you have read the topics and the exam traps.
- 115 high-yield facts
- One page
- Type to filter
High-yield facts
| Item | Key fact |
|---|---|
| 1972 | UN Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm (5–16 June); Stockholm Declaration (26 principles) and Action Plan (109 recommendations); creation of UNEP (HQ Nairobi); World Environment Day (5 June) |
| 1982 | Nairobi (Stockholm +10); UN World Charter for Nature (UNGA Res. 37/7); UNCLOS signed at Montego Bay; Review of Stockholm; Charter recognised nature’s intrinsic value; UNCLOS Part XII deals with protection of the marine environment |
| 1987 | Brundtland Commission report Our Common Future; Montreal Protocol; Defined sustainable development; ozone-depleting substances phased out |
| 1992 | UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), Rio de Janeiro (3–14 June), the “Earth Summit”; Rio Declaration (27 principles), Agenda 21, Forest Principles, UNFCCC and CBD opened for signature; Commission on Sustainable Development created |
| 1997 | Rio +5; Kyoto Protocol adopted (COP3); Binding emission targets for developed countries |
| 2002 | World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Johannesburg; Johannesburg Declaration and Plan of Implementation; three pillars of sustainable development: economic development, social development, environmental protection |
| 2012 | UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20); Outcome document The Future We Want; green economy in the context of sustainable development; process leading to the SDGs; High-Level Political Forum replaced CSD |
| 2015 | UN Sustainable Development Summit (September); COP21 Paris (December); 2030 Agenda with 17 SDGs and 169 targets; Paris Agreement |
| 2022 | Stockholm +50 (June); UNEA-5.2 (March); Reaffirmed Stockholm; mandate to negotiate a plastics treaty |
| Ramsar Convention 1971 | Wetlands; In force 1975; “wise use” of wetlands; Montreux Record lists sites under threat |
| World Heritage Convention 1972 | Cultural and natural heritage; UNESCO |
| CITES 1973 | Trade in endangered species; In force 1975; Appendices I, II, III |
| Bonn Convention (CMS) 1979 | Migratory species |
| Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer 1985 | Ozone; Framework treaty |
| Montreal Protocol 1987 | Ozone-depleting substances; In force 1989; Kigali Amendment 2016 on HFCs (in force 2019) |
| Basel Convention 1989 | Transboundary movement of hazardous wastes; In force 1992; Prior Informed Consent; Ban Amendment 1995 |
| UNFCCC 1992 | Climate change; In force 1994; objective is stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations; CBDR; COPs held annually |
| CBD 1992 | Biodiversity; Three objectives: conservation, sustainable use, fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources |
| UNCCD 1994 | Desertification; In force 1996 |
| Kyoto Protocol 1997 | Climate; Entered into force 16 Feb 2005; binding targets for Annex I parties (about 5.2% below 1990 levels in 2008–12); flexibility mechanisms: Emissions Trading, Joint Implementation, Clean Development Mechanism |
| Rotterdam Convention 1998 | Hazardous chemicals and pesticides in trade; Prior Informed Consent procedure |
| Cartagena Protocol 2000 | Biosafety (living modified organisms); Under the CBD; in force 2003 |
| Stockholm Convention 2001 | Persistent Organic Pollutants; In force 2004 |
| Nagoya Protocol 2010 | Access and benefit sharing; In force 2014 |
| Minamata Convention 2013 | Mercury; In force 2017 |
| Paris Agreement 2015 | Climate; In force 4 Nov 2016; temperature goal “well below 2°C” and efforts towards 1.5°C; Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs); five-yearly global stocktake; Article 6 on market and non-market approaches; Article 8 loss and damage |
| Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework 2022 | Biodiversity; COP15 of the CBD; “30 by 30” target |
| BBNJ Agreement 2023 | Biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (high seas); Adopted June 2023; reported to have entered into force in January 2026 |
| Article 21 | Protection of life and personal liberty; Includes the right to a wholesome environment, pollution-free air and water, and sustainable development |
| Article 48A (DPSP) | The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country; Inserted by the 42nd Amendment 1976 |
| Article 51A(g) (Fundamental Duty) | Duty of every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures; Inserted by the 42nd Amendment 1976; courts use it with Art. 48A to interpret Art. 21 |
| Article 47 | Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and standard of living and to improve public health; Used in water and pollution cases |
| Article 14 | Equality and non-arbitrariness; Used to challenge arbitrary clearances; M.K. Ranjitsinh (2024) links climate rights to Arts. 14 and 21 |
| Article 19(1)(g) with 19(6) | Freedom to carry on trade or business, subject to reasonable restrictions; Pollution-causing industries have no fundamental right to pollute |
| Articles 32 and 226 | Writ jurisdiction of Supreme Court and High Courts; Public interest litigation and compensation as a public law remedy |
| Article 39(b) and (c) | Distribution of material resources of the community to subserve the common good |
| Article 51(c) and Article 253 | Respect for international law; Parliament’s power to legislate for treaty implementation; Basis of the EP Act 1986 |
| Article 252 | Parliament may legislate for States by consent; Used for the Water Act 1974 |
| Seventh Schedule | List I: Entry 52 (industries), 53 (atomic energy), 56 (inter-State rivers), 57 (fishing beyond territorial waters); List II: Entry 6 (public health and sanitation), 14 (agriculture), 17 (water), 18 (land); List III: Entry 17A (forests), 17B (protection of wild animals and birds), 20 (economic and social planning), 29 (prevention of the extension of infectious or contagious diseases); Forests and wild animals/birds moved from State List to Concurrent List by the 42nd Amendment 1976 |
| Eleventh Schedule (Panchayats) | Includes social forestry and farm forestry, minor forest produce, drinking water; Articles 243G |
| Twelfth Schedule (Municipalities) | Public health, sanitation, conservancy and solid waste management; urban forestry, protection of the environment and promotion of ecological aspects; Article 243W |
| Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972 | National Board for Wild Life (s.5A); Central Zoo Authority (s.38A); National Tiger Conservation Authority and tiger reserves (2006 amendment); protected areas: sanctuaries (s.18), national parks (s.35), conservation reserves (s.36A), community reserves (s.36C); hunting prohibited (s.9); schedules reduced and CITES species schedule added by the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act 2022 |
| Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, renamed Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam by the 2023 amendment | s.2 restricts de-reservation of reserved forests and use of forest land for non-forest purposes without prior approval of the Central Government; the 2023 amendment narrowed the Act’s coverage and exempted certain categories (for example linear projects near borders and security-related infrastructure) |
| Indian Forest Act 1927 | Reserved, protected and village forests |
| Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 | Recognises individual and community forest rights; Gram Sabha role (Orissa Mining Corporation v. MoEF, Niyamgiri, 2013) |
| Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act 2016 | CAMPA; funds for compensatory afforestation |
| Biological Diversity Act 2002 (amended 2023) | National Biodiversity Authority (Chennai), State Biodiversity Boards, Biodiversity Management Committees; access and benefit sharing; implements the CBD |
| Public Liability Insurance Act 1991 | No-fault liability for accidents while handling hazardous substances; compulsory insurance; Environmental Relief Fund (s.7A); claims before the Collector |
| National Green Tribunal Act 2010 | See section 5 |
| Energy Conservation Act 2001 (amended 2022) | Bureau of Energy Efficiency; amendments enable a carbon market |
| Factories Act 1948 | Chapter IVA on hazardous processes (inserted after Bhopal in 1987) |
| Motor Vehicles Act 1988 | Pollution under control certificates and emission norms |
| Insecticides Act 1968; Atomic Energy Act 1962; Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010 | Regulation of pesticides; radiation safety; nuclear damage liability (check recent nuclear law reforms) |
| Penal and procedural law | Public nuisance in the IPC (ss.268, 277, 278, 290) with parallel provisions in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023; s.133 CrPC (corresponding Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita provision) for removal of public nuisance, as in Ratlam Municipality v. Vardhichand (1980) |
| Ratlam Municipality v. Vardhichand (1980) | Municipalities cannot plead lack of funds to avoid statutory duty to provide drains and sanitation; public nuisance remedy |
| Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (1985) | Doon Valley mining halted; ecological balance under Art. 21 |
| M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Oleum Gas Leak, 1986/87) | Rule of absolute liability for hazardous industries; Rylands v. Fletcher exceptions rejected; compensation proportional to the enterprise’s capacity |
| M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Ganga Pollution, 1988) | Tanneries ordered to treat effluents; locus standi for public-spirited persons |
| Union Carbide Corporation v. Union of India (1989) | Bhopal settlement of US\$470 million; later partly revisited |
| Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar (1991) | Right to pollution-free water and air under Art. 21; limits on PIL for private interest |
| Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India (1996) | Bichhri chemical sludge case; polluter pays; absolute liability applied |
| Vellore Citizens’ Welfare Forum (1996) | Precautionary and polluter pays are part of Indian law |
| T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India (1996 onwards) | “Forest” given its dictionary meaning, covering all areas recorded as forest; continuing mandamus; Central Empowered Committee |
| M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Taj Trapezium, 1997) | Industries around the Taj Mahal ordered to switch to natural gas or relocate |
| S. Jagannath v. Union of India (1997) | Shrimp aquaculture in coastal zones restricted; polluter pays and precaution applied |
| M.C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath (1997) | Public trust doctrine |
| A.P. Pollution Control Board v. M.V. Nayudu (1999; 2001) | Precautionary principle with burden of proof on the developer; need for environmental courts with technical members |
| M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Delhi vehicular pollution, 1998–2001) | CNG for public transport in Delhi |
| Almitra H. Patel v. Union of India (2000) | Municipal solid waste and a citizen’s right to clean living |
| Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board v. C. Kenchappa (2006) | Sustainable development balances the economy and ecology |
| Orissa Mining Corporation v. MoEF (2013) | Gram Sabhas decide cultural and religious rights of tribals in forest-rights claims (Niyamgiri) |
| Hanuman Laxman Aroskar v. Union of India (2019) | EIA process must be meaningful; Mopa airport clearance quashed and remanded |
| Vanashakti v. Union of India (2025) | In May 2025 the Supreme Court held ex post facto environmental clearance illegal; on 18 November 2025 a three-judge bench recalled it by a 2:1 majority and sent the matter for fresh consideration. Treat as unsettled |
| M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India (2024) | Right against the adverse effects of climate change under Arts. 14 and 21 (Great Indian Bustard) |
| 539 BC | Cyrus Cylinder (Persia), often cited as an early charter of rights |
| 3rd century BC | Edicts of Emperor Ashoka (tolerance, welfare, humane treatment) |
| 1215 | Magna Carta (King John at Runnymede): the king is under the law; no freeman to be imprisoned or deprived of rights except by lawful judgment of peers or the law of the land |
| 1628 | Petition of Right |
| 1679 | Habeas Corpus Act |
| 1689 | English Bill of Rights |
| 1776 | American Declaration of Independence; Virginia Declaration of Rights |
| 1789 | French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen |
| 1791 | Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution (first ten amendments) |
| 1833 | Abolition of slavery in the British Empire |
| 1863–1864 | Red Cross founded (Henry Dunant); first Geneva Convention 1864 |
| 1919 | League of Nations; International Labour Organization; minority treaties |
| 1926 | Slavery Convention |
| 1941 | Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms: speech and expression, worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear; Atlantic Charter |
| 1945 | UN Charter (preamble reaffirms faith in fundamental human rights and dignity; Art. 1(3), 13, 55, 56, 62, 68); Nuremberg trials |
| 1946 | UN Commission on Human Rights set up under ECOSOC (first chair Eleanor Roosevelt) |
| 1948 | Genocide Convention (9 December); Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10 December) |
| 1949 | Four Geneva Conventions |
| 1950 | European Convention on Human Rights; UNHCR established |
| 1951 | Refugee Convention |
| 1965 | International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination |
| 1966 | ICCPR and ICESCR adopted (in force 1976) |
| 1979 | CEDAW |
| 1981 | African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Banjul; in force 1986) |
| 1984 | Convention against Torture |
| 1986 | Declaration on the Right to Development |
| 1989 | Convention on the Rights of the Child |
| 1993 | Vienna World Conference; Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action; post of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights created |
| 1995–2004 | UN Decade for Human Rights Education |
| 1998 | Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (in force 2002) |
| 2006 | UN Human Rights Council replaces the Commission on Human Rights; CRPD; Convention on Enforced Disappearance |
| 2012 | ASEAN Human Rights Declaration |
| ICERD (racial discrimination) | 1965; 1969 |
| ICCPR | 1966; 1976 |
| ICESCR | 1966; 1976 |
| CEDAW | 1979; 1981 |
| CAT | 1984; 1987 |
| CRC | 1989; 1990 |
| ICRMW (migrant workers) | 1990; 2003 |
| CRPD | 2006; 2008 |
| ICPPED (enforced disappearance) | 2006; 2010 |
Where each fact is explained
Open the topic for the concept behind any line you cannot recall.
- 0 Exam Pattern, Trends and Priority Map
- 1 Meaning and Concept of Environment and Environmental Pollution
- 2 International Environmental Law and UN Conferences
- 3 Constitutional and Legal Framework for Environment Protection in India
- 4 Environmental Impact Assessment and Control of Hazardous Waste in India
- 5 National Green Tribunal (NGT)
- 6 Concept and Development of Human Rights
- 7 Universalism and Cultural Relativism
- 8 International Bill of Rights
- 9 Group Rights: Women, Children, Persons with Disabilities, Elderly, Minorities and Weaker Sections
- 10 Protection and Enforcement of Human Rights in India: NHRC and National Commissions
← Chapter overviewPractise MCQs →
Last updated: .