Page 55 - Banking Finance June 2024

FEATURES

How climate change is fuelling

litigation in India and the world

I n an important ruling that could energise climate The bulk of these cases have been filed in developed
countries, mainly the United States and Europe. But
litigation in India, the Supreme Court on April 6 said
increasingly, cases are being filed in developing countries as
people had a fundamental right to be free from
adverse impacts of climate change, and that this right
on the list of countries with the most number of cases.
flowed naturally from the right to life and the right to well. The report identified 11 cases in India, putting it 14th
equality guaranteed in the Constitution. The court said A large proportion of these cases have used rights-based
people's right to clean air or a clean environment was
frameworks, similar to the one articulated by the Supreme
already recognised in Indian jurisprudence, and given the Court. Petitioners have invoked the right to life, human
increasing 'havoc' being caused by climate change, it was rights, right to health, etc. to press for greater climate
necessary to carve out the right to be protected against its
action.
adverse effects as a distinct right in itself.
In several cases, courts have concurred and given favourable
The apex court judgment came in a case in which climate verdicts. Most recently, a group of elderly Swiss women
change was only incidental to the arguments. The main successfully argued before the European Court of Human
matter pertained to the conservation of the Great Indian
Rights that their rights to family life were being violated
Bustard (GIB), an endangered bird. The court, however, used because of the adverse health effects of heatwaves. The
the climate change argument to move away from the court held that the government of Switzerland had indeed
immediate issue and address the larger problem of the risks violated their human rights.
that people face from climate change.
People have also sued governments for lack of enforcement
The rise of climate litigation of existing climate laws or policies, and corporations for
The Supreme Court's articulation comes at a time when liability, compensation or greenwashing - when firms or
governments give a false impression that all of their products
there is a global surge in the number of people seeking legal
remedies for issues related to climate change. As or activities are climate-friendly. The increase in climate-
related cases has also sensitised the courts which are more
government and corporate actions on climate remain
likely to give favourable judgments than before. But while
woefully inadequate, more and more people feel the brunt
this may bring greater accountability in government and
of climate change impacts, and an increasing number of
corporate climate actions, it would be too much to expect
concerned individuals and groups have been turning to
these verdicts to make any significant dent in the overall
courts to set things right.
threat from climate change.
The 2023 edition of the Global Climate Litigation Report, a
periodic publication of the UN Environment Programme, Climate litigation in India
identified 2,180 climate-related cases being heard by courts, Indian courts have been dealing with climate-related issues
tribunals, and other adjudicatory bodies in 65 countries. The for a long time now, even though they might not have been
2020 edition of the same publication had identified 1,550 categorised as climate litigation. The National Green
cases in 39 countries while the 2017 edition had found 884
cases in 24 countries.

48 | 2024 | JUNE | BANKING FINANCE