SC: “Right against climate change a distinct fundamental and human right”

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India, for the first time, recognised the right against the adverse impacts of climate change, saying it is intertwined with the right to life and equality that are embedded in the Indian Constitution.

The judgment was part of a verdict by a three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on a case connected with the survival of the endangered Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican species and renewable energy infrastructure in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. 

The top court recalled an earlier order of 2021 that had introduced a blanket ban against overhead power lines over an area of 99,000 square kilometers covering parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan to protect the birds. 

Linking the right against climate change to Articles 21 and 14, CJI Chandrachud said the rights to life and equality could not be fully realised without a clean, stable environment.

“Climate change may impact the constitutional guarantee of the right to equality. Without a clean environment which is stable and un-impacted by the vagaries of climate change, the right to life is not fully realised. The right to health (which is a part of the right to life under Article 21) is impacted due to factors such as air pollution, shifts in vector-borne diseases, rising temperatures, droughts, shortages in food supplies due to crop failure, storms, and flooding. The inability of underserved communities to adapt to climate change or cope with its effects violates the right to life as well as the right to equality…If climate change and environmental degradation lead to acute food and water shortages in a particular area, poorer communities will suffer more than richer ones,” the judgment said. 

The court also highlighted the interconnection between climate change and various human rights, including the right to health, indigenous rights, gender equality, and the right to development.

The judgment noted that the right to a healthy environment, safe from the ill effects of climate change was a “fundamental human right.”

“Violations of the right to a healthy environment can reverberate across numerous rights domains, including the right to life, personal integrity, health, water, and housing, as well as procedural rights such as information, expression, association, and participation… Unequal energy access disproportionately affects women and girls due to their gender roles and responsibilities such as through time spent on domestic chores and unpaid care work,” the court noted.

The Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) are especially found in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and the alarming decrease in their numbers is attributed to frequent collisions with overhead power transmission, including those of solar plants, near their habitats.

The GIBs have lateral vision as their eyes are on the sides of their head and they find it difficult to change their course of flight when confronted with a live wire.  The court also mentioned that the lack of reliable electricity supply for many citizens not only hinders economic development but also disproportionately affects communities, including women and low-income households, further perpetuating inequalities. 

The bench in an order passed on March 21, formed an expert committee comprising M.P. Aggarwal, Director, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun; Hari Shankar Singh, member, National Institute of India; Niranjan Kumar Vasu, former Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, B Majumdar, former Chief Wildlife Warden and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Maharashtra;  Devesh Gadhavi, Deputy Director, The Corbett foundation, Lalit Bohra, joint Secretary (Green Energy Corridor), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The work of the committee would also traverse the area of the setting up of transmission lines to facilitate solar power generation. The judgment came on a petition by wildlife activist MK Ranjit Singh to protect the GIBs.