Supreme Court has directed eight Central ministries to coordinate together to deal with climate change, prompted by a petition made by eight-year-old child activist Ridhima Pandey. The court issued notices to the ministries responsible for managing the environment, referring to concerns that the organizations were operating in “silos.”
They are the Ministries of New and Renewable Energy, Power, Urban Development, Road Transport, Petroleum, Mines, Science and Technology, and Textiles. The petition had raised an alarm over increasing carbon emissions and their negative effects on the environment.
Describing climate change as “one of the most existential global quandaries,” the bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra emphasized that its effects extend far beyond environmental degradation. The judges noted, “Rising temperatures, erratic weather patterns, and the intensification of extreme climatic events such as floods, droughts, and heatwaves not only threaten ecosystems but also disrupt human life, livelihood, and socio-economic arrangements.”
The court highlighted the extensive economic implications of climate change, stating that it intensifies public health susceptibilities, lowers agricultural production, and increases energy consumption—a reality keenly perceived in rapidly developing nations like India. Preventing climate change was portrayed as crucial to guaranteeing economic resilience, social justice, and sustainable development.
Apart from that, the bench recommended a thorough review of the existing environmental laws, like the Environment Protection Act and the 1981 legislation on the prevention of air pollution.
In a related development, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and Augustine George Masih has directed all states and Union Territories to form expert committees to scrutinize land classifications, including forest and community lands. This follows concerns over recent amendments to the 2023 conservation law, which had allegedly taken about 1.99 lakh square kilometers of forest land out of the official “forest” classification, making it available for other uses.
