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Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

14/04/24 07:50 AM IST

The trend in climate change jurisprudence

In News
  • In a recent judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that citizens have a “right against the adverse effects of climate change”.
Environmental concerns
  • In recent years, one of the factors linked to the decline in the population of the Great Indian Bustard, an endangered species, are power lines in Rajasthan and Gujarat, which host several, large solar parks.
  • The concern was that the birds collided against the overhead transmission lines.
  • Environmentalists petitioned the Supreme Court in 2019, pleading that all overhead lines, existing and prospective, be shifted underground.
  • Private and public power companies, supported by the Centre’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), contended that shifting all overhead lines underground would be expensive and impractical, and would significantly hike the cost of solar power, undermining India’s commitment to green growth.
  • The Court had constituted a committee of experts in April 2021 to determine which transmission lines ought to go underground and which ones could remain overground.
  • In its latest judgment, the Court has continued to task an expert committee with overseeing the electrification but quite emphatically stressed that underground electrification — as the government and power-developers have argued — would hinder India’s road to solar electrification.
Govt Initiatives
  • Indian government has taken multiple steps through legislation as well mission-led programmes to address climate change.
  • The Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981, the Environment (Protection) Act 1986, the National Green Tribunal Act 2010, were among those referenced in the judgment; the National Solar Mission, the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency and, the National Mission for a Green India were also mentioned.
  • Despite governmental policy and rules and regulations recognising the adverse effects of climate change and seeking to combat it, there is no single or umbrella legislation in India which relates to climate change and the attendant concerns.
Implications
  • Supreme Court judgments on environmental matters have often significantly altered public discourse and governmental action.
  • For instance, decisions in the M.C. Mehta verus Union of India, the Godavarman Thirumulpad cases have been the foundation of subsequent environmental action.
  • In the current case of the Great Indian Bustard too, the ruling has come with the Court underlining the necessity for expanding electricity production for solar energy sources.
  • While this is state-backed, India has also underlined its right at international fora to continue to rely on coal plants and fossil fuels.
  • Whether this will be seen by Indians as the government failing to protect them against the effects of climate change remains to be seen.
Source- The Hindu

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