Read the full Environmental Law Reporter article here.
As in many other countries, climate change is driving new and complex litigation throughout India. These cases deal with a wide scope of issues, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, renewable energy development, and air pollution, among other topics. Five features related to India’s climate and energy policies, its judicial structure, and a recent Supreme Court decision make it likely that the courts will continue to play a significant role in shaping the country’s response to climate change.
First, despite a high degree of public support for GHG emissions reduction, government action on climate change mitigation has been limited and insufficient to meet international goals to constrain global temperature rise to acceptable levels under the Paris Agreement. Second, India’s National Green Tribunal (NGT), which has primary jurisdiction over all environmental disputes, provides litigants with a straightforward path to challenge governmental policies on climate and energy. Third, cases brought before the Supreme Court that are done in the public interest—including litigation around environmental degradation—have relaxed standing requirements. Fourth, expansive judicial power allows Indian judges to issue decisions on government actions that are not formally challenged by a plaintiff. Fifth, in a March 2024 Supreme Court decision, Chief Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud declared that the “right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change” is included under the constitutional rights to equality and to life, potentially greenlighting future climate litigation brought on constitutional grounds.
This combination of factors related to the impacts of climate change, national policy, and judicial authority make it likely that Indian courts will see an increase in climate litigation. In previous climate cases, judges were asked to navigate and opine upon complex scientific topics. To advance judicial knowledge of climate science and ensure that judges are prepared to meet this growth in litigation, this Comment argues that the country’s official judicial education channels—the National Judicial Academy (NJA) and the various state-level equivalents—should consider adopting climate literacy trainings. The Comment provides a brief overview of climate impacts and policy in India, an explanation of the judiciary’s authority and structure, including its educational bodies, and a description of select cases in which judges have already weighed in on climate issues. Proactive preparation for climate litigation will increase judges’ abilities to make informed, expedient, and just decisions in the storm of cases to come.
