Climate change affects citizens’ right to life: SC

New Delhi, April 8

Noting that climate change impacts the constitutional guarantee of the right to health and right to equality, the Supreme Court has asked an expert panel to find a balance between conservation of critically-endangered Great Indian Bustard and renewable energy infrastructure in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Impact on health

The right to health 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. CJI

The committee’s work would also traverse the area of the setting up of transmission lines to facilitate solar power generation, it said. Acting on a petition by wildlife activist MK Ranjitsinh and others, the top court had on April 21, 2021, issued an order for “undergrounding” of overhead transmission lines across an area of over 80,000 sq km in the two states. However, recalling its April 21, 2021 order, a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on March 21 said such a blanket direction for “undergrounding” high voltage and low voltage power lines needed recalibration. The March 21 order that was uploaded on the top court’s website on Sunday is being seen as the first-ever judicial recognition of the perils of climate change in India as it said, “It is imperative for states like India, to uphold their obligations under international law, including their responsibilities to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate impacts, and protect the fundamental rights of all individuals to live in a healthy and sustainable environment.”