India's progressive environmental case law: a worthy roadmap for global climate change litigation

Abstract

This Article explores how the long-standing tradition of common law countries, such as India, which have long acknowledged the fundamental right to a healthy and pollution-free life, can assist judges in other jurisdictions and inform global climate governance. Many other common and civil law jurisdictions are faced for the first time with having to interpret and assess whether there is a fundamental right to a healthy and pollution-free environment. This question forces them to review whether state inaction on climate change infringes on this fundamental right. This Article examines how Indian courts have adjudicated environmental and climate litigation. We further scrutinize the classification of cases as climate litigation in the Indian context to try and truly unearth Indian jurisprudence on environmental and climate protection. The Article also examines observable trends and the way forward for environmental and climate litigation in India. We compare the human rights-based climate litigations before the European Court of Human Rights with Indian jurisprudence to understand transnational climate litigation better.