Kiran Shakya
Law
June 2025
The paper explores the changing legal and judicial ecology of climate justice in India, including the assessment of the ways environmental jurisprudence offers protection to the marginalized groups that are disproportionally affected by the climate change. Grounded on constitutional rights, and complemented by statutory mechanisms like the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and Forest Rights Act, 2006, the law system of India has increasingly moved to embrace this nexus between environmental degradation and unfairness. The judiciary especially landmark judgment and Public Interest Litigation has played a critical role in leading a rights based approach to environmental protection. However, there is still much ground to be covered when it comes to legal enforceability, a participatory approach to governance, and overall implementation at the ground level despite programmatic initiatives such as the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and India managing to be part of the ratification of the Paris Agreement. The paper states the need of a more participatory, fair, and legally binding framework so that climate action can really serve those that are most at risk
1244- 1256
© Airo Journals 2021
