The coastal and marine environment performs several key functions—regulating the climate, sequestering carbon dioxide, and sustaining essential biological processes. With close to a quarter of the world’s population living in coastal and adjacent areas and millions depending on coastal and marine ecosystems and resources for their livelihood and sustenance, the health of the marine and coastal environment is critical. Despite this, the coastal and marine environment is fast deteriorating, the degradation set to accelerate rapidly with climate change and sea level rise. This chapter provides an understanding of these developments and the current state of the law on the protection of the marine and coastal environment in India evaluating its capacity to respond to these challenges. In this regard, the focus will be on India’s coastal law and the attempts to operationalize integrated coastal zone management which has global recognition as the primary pathway to secure sustainable coastal development.