INTRODUCTION
An appeal was filed by Ridhima Pandey highlighting the government’s failure to adequately address climate change issues through productive scientific measures. The Supreme Court recognized the importance of the issue of carbon emissions and their impact on the government, and accordingly appointed two advocates to examine the existing legal framework governing emissions.
BACKGROUND
The case started off when Ridhima Pandey, a 11-year-old, filed a case in 2017 before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to draw attention to the government’s inadequate use of effective scientific measures to address climate change challenges, but was dismissed. In response to this, the petitioner filed the appeal before the Supreme Court in 2019.
The plea contained several eye-openers, the first one being, despite being part of international commitments such as the Paris Agreement, India’s domestic actions such as approving carbon-intensive projects contradict its pledges. Secondly, the plea highlights several impacts of climate change that is already prevalent in India, i.e., ocean acidification, rising sea levels increased climate refugees etc. The absence of proper enforcement of current environmental legislation, including the Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 and the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986, is another issue brought up in the appeal. It was also stated in the appeal that children being the most vulnerable, are exposed to the effects of climate change and thus government intervention is the need of the hour. Therefore, the Supreme Court appointed Advocates Jay Cheema and Sudhir Mishra as Amici Curiae to examine the existing legal framework governing emissions. The Bench further instructed senior advocate Swarupama Chaturvedi, representing the Centre, to compile all relevant rules and regulations concerning carbon emissions.
KEY POINTS
- Solutions contained in the plea- The appeal contained solutions such as setting a “carbon budget” until 2050 to control emissions and pursuing thorough climate impact analyses as part of environmental and forest clearances for different projects. Additionally, it aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by developing a national climate recovery strategy with a timeline.
- Need for government intervention- Our future generation, the youth, are exposed to most of the effects of climate change, thus controlling the emissions through effective scientific-based measures is imperative. Moreover, the consequences of climate change include glacier melting in the Himalayas, loss of mangrove areas, ocean acidification etc.
- India’s inherent conflict between international and domestic acts- India’s domestic activities, such as permitting carbon-intensive projects, frequently contradict its international promises, such as lowering the greenhouse gas intensity of its GDP by 33–35 percent by 2030. According to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) framework, the petitioner contends that these projects do not have sufficient climate impact assessments and do not take into account the wider effects on carbon emissions and climate change.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
The Court stated that matter concerning climate change and its adverse effects is quite significant since it concerns carbon emissions that have an impact on the environment and necessitate an analysis of the legal framework governing them.
Two attorneys, Jay Cheema and Sudhir Mishra have been designated as Amici Curiae by the Supreme Court to help it review the laws governing carbon emissions. Senior Advocate Swarupama Chaturvedi, who was representing the Centre, was also instructed by the court to gather all pertinent laws and guidelines pertaining to carbon emissions. The judge scheduled the next hearing for December 17 and instructed the Chaturvedi to file the same within two weeks.
CONCLUSION
The most important environmental issue facing the world community is climate change, and India is among the nation’s most at risk from its negative effects. In fact, the country is already experiencing these effects, as evidenced by the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events that are occurring all over the country. This makes for need for government accountability extremely urgent.
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WRITTEN BY BAVYA PRESSAD
