Battling The Climate Crisis in Court: The Mutual Relationship between Climate Litigation and

India's Environmental Future

BATTLING THE CLIMATE CRISIS IN COURT: THE MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP

Abstract
The concept of Climate Litigation is not new as it has been part of people’s lives for decades as it
comes in accordance with the climate change that affects not only human beings but also animals
covering the ground of animal law as well. We live in a world where sea levels threaten coastal
cities, heat waves have become more frequent, biodiversity is getting exploited, and the urgency
of climate change litigation is now at its peak. India emits around 7% of the global emissions, and
it kills more than 2 million people in India, showing its importance. This article is about the notion
of climate litigation in India both as an achievement and a letdown, its execution, challenges, and
future actions.
Keywords: Climate Litigation, Challenges, India

I. Introduction

The right to live in a healthy environment under Article 21 of the Constitution was first recognized
in the case of Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra in 1988. The balancing of energy access
and conservation of wildlife while keeping the adverse effects of climate change in mind was
recognized in the Great Indian Bustard case in 2024. Over the course of 36 years, both cases have
one thing in common, i.e., the protection of the environment vis-à-vis climate change.

Climate change can be a reason for the extinction of not only the human species but also of other
living species. Talking about climate change with respect to the Indian context, it has become the
rising powerhouse both in terms of degradation of the environment, as Climate Litigation is on the
rise in India as most people work in climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture, forestry, and coastal
ecosystems for livelihoods.

That is why it becomes imperative for the judiciary to deal with the increasing climate change
matters effectively. India has always been a country where the voice for climate change has been
given strength through PILs and a growing number of National Green Tribunal cases.

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Battling The Climate Crisis in Court: The Mutual Relationship between Climate Litigation and
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Environmental-related cases have always been a talking point in India, be it the Vellore Case,
Kamalnath case, and MC Mehta case. The number of cases in the National Green Tribunal was
15132 cases in just the last five years. That shows the rise of climate litigation in India with respect
to climate change and the protection of the environment.

II. Climate Litigation Delineation: Laws, Policies, And Regulations

Climate litigation is a type of litigation that has some climate change law, policy, or science, which
must be a material issue of law or fact in the case. However, this definition is vague and doesn’t
cover all the nuances. Therefore, its definition consists of 4 different parameters – firstly, where
climate change is a central issue, like in the Klima Seniorinnen case; secondly, where climate
change is a peripheral issue; thirdly, where climate change is one motivation but not raised as an
issue like in Manohar Lal Sharma case; and fourthly, where climate change is only for mitigation
or adoption.

Many Indian laws talk about environmental conservation, like the Environment Protection Act of
1986, which aims to handle hazardous substances efficiently, and the Forest (Conservation) Act of
1980, which aims to ensure compensatory afforestation efforts. India is not aloof from international
treaties like the Paris Agreement, in which India committed to generate 40% of its electricity from
non-fossil fuels by 2030.

III. Two Hits and One Miss: India's Climate Goals against Climate Change

India is on the verge of completing almost three critical targets of the Paris Agreement. However,
there are still some areas where India needs to work harder. 2.5 billion odd credits are still left with
India in the carbon market. Additionally, India is still lagging in its forestry target of 33%. The
significant cases regarding climate conservation have been the issue of industries versus the
environment. The Indian Judiciary always had a soft corner for the environment side. It can be
seen when the Supreme Court directed various private firms to take necessary steps to avoid
harming the heritage monuments and buildings in Tirupathi v. State of A.P. & Others.

Undoubtedly, climate change has been critical to the world, causing drought, ecosystem
degradation, and food shortages. Climate change is one of the biggest threats to human rights
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Battling The Climate Crisis in Court: The Mutual Relationship between Climate Litigation and
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through migration, drought, and poverty, making climate litigation more imperative for the
country. All of these reasons show how imperative climate litigation has been over the years, and
its importance will only increase as the problem of climate change cannot be solved in a few years
or even decades.

IV. The Nuisance Paradox: The Challenges of Climate Litigation

The biggest challenge of climate litigation is the war between private and public nuisance. Most
climate change cases come as a private nuisance against the polluter, and these private nuisance
cases are large numbers. However, climate change is an extensive issue that includes not only the
individual complainants in case of private nuisance but also the whole society because of the
ramifications of climate change that transcend any city, country, or border. Therefore, public
nuisance is a more effective solution to tackle this problem. i

Another gigantic challenge of the legal system has been establishing defendants' liability,
especially in private nuisance cases. This is because of the lack of climate change-related scientific
machinery at the fundamental level to calculate the damage done to the environment. As in
Macquarie v. Hodgson case, the court acquitted the defendants from the liability of public nuisance
on the grounds that the carbon dioxide was colourless, and inert.

The lack of scientific advances in the climate change sector in India still haunts the Indian Judicial
System. Some climate change-related cases can be solved by applying common law theories. Still,
there remains a vacuum of rational nexus between these laws, theories, and scientific pieces of
evidence to add up to the ratio decidendi of a case.ii

The formation of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2010 was a paramount decision of India
towards protecting the environment. However, some issues remain regarding limited jurisdiction,
powers of execution, and statutory limitations. Section 14 of the NGT act states that the tribunal’s
powers must arise “out of the implementation of” the jurisdictions, which are very limited in India
compared to other countries such as the USA OR the European Union. Therefore, it restricts the
NGT from making decisions only in these limited jurisdictions' purview.iii

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Battling The Climate Crisis in Court: The Mutual Relationship between Climate Litigation and
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V. Future Facing: A Call for Youth Engagement and NGT Reform

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has limited jurisdiction as section 14 of the NGT Act
authorizes it to only decide from already defined climate change-related jurisprudence. It violates
the notion of natural justice, as climate change is an ongoing and constant issue. Additionally, there
is a need for climate litigation to be led by the youth as they are the most imperative stakeholders.
For instance, in 2017, Ridhima Pandey, a 9-year-old girl, moved to the NGT, complaining about
the government's ignorance of implementing climate change-related policies practically.

The study of climate change vis-à-vis legal implications as a different area is still at a very tender
stage in India, where climate change is only taught as a theory and has no practical implications.
India has ratified the Paris Agreement, which talks to enhance climate change education and public
access as per Article 12 of the Paris Agreement; there is still a need for specialized institutions
focused on climate litigation for the youth by generating jobs in this sector and motivating them
to take up climate change education and litigation for its optimistic progress.

Public Awareness about climate change directly impacts human activities, which also affects social
relations between human beings and, thus, requires legal regulation.iv However, there is still a
significant need to recognize climate law as a separate study. Some steps were taken in this regard
by enacting the Environment Protection Act. However, we are still far behind in terms of the
number and quality of laws in countries like the USA, such as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

VI. Conclusion

It has been a long time since the inception of climate litigation, starting with its first case. It is the
peak time to make decisions and take steps towards equitable climate protection, as it has been
opined that if necessary steps are not taken now, it would be impossible to stop the ramifications
of climate change that are leading human society to extinction. There is a need to increase the
powers that the NGT holds and improve the climate-related specialized institutions in addition to
the practical study of the same. Additionally, the contribution of the youth to climate litigation will
be paramount.

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 Battling The Climate Crisis in Court: The Mutual Relationship between Climate Litigation and
India's Environmental Future

We, as India, must work on the same page in relation to climate change-related laws where there
is a need for the balance of conservation of the environment and industrial development as India
is now the most populous country with around 1.4 billion population. The courts must be our last
line of defense, but justice cannot wait.

i David A. Grossman, ‘Warming Up to a Not-So-Radical Idea: Tort-Based Climate Change Litigation’ [2003]
Columbia Journal of Environmental Law 52.
ii Arindam Basu, ‘Climate Change Litigation in India: Seeking a New Approach through the Application of Common

Law Principles’ [2011] NALSAR Environmental Law and Practice Review 34.
iii Shibani Ghosh, ‘Litigating Climate Claims in India’ (2020) 114 American Journal of International Law 44.
iv Jean Pierre Gauci, Climate Change Litigation: Global Perspectives - An Introduction (1 st edn, British Institute of

International and Comparative Law 2021) 23.

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