Plea Seeking Measures To Mitigate Climate Change : Supreme Court Appoints Amici Curiae To Examine Laws Regulating Carbon Emissions

Recognizing the importance of the issue of carbon emissions and their impact on the environment, the Supreme Court recently appointed Advocates Jay Cheema and Sudhir Mishra as Amici Curiae to examine the existing legal framework governing emissions. “It is submitted that Climate Change is the most significant environmental issue faced by the global community, and India is one of the most vulnerable countries to adverse impacts of climate change and is in fact already witnessing such impacts in the form of glacier melting in the Himalayas, rising sea levels and extreme weather adverse events witnessed across the country”, the petition states. The plea highlights various adverse impacts of climate change in India, such as glacier melting in the Himalayas, rising sea levels, loss of mangrove areas, increased climate refugees, extreme rainfall events, and ocean acidification The plea raises serious concerns about the lack of integration of climate commitments—such as those under the Paris Agreement—into domestic policies. The plea argues for the establishment of a “carbon budget” till 2050 to limit emissions and seeks rigorous climate impact assessments as part of environmental and forest clearances of various projects. The petitioner argues that these projects lack adequate climate impact assessments under the Environment Impact Assessment framework and fail to consider the broader consequences on carbon emissions and climate change.