In a resounding verdict echoing the sentiments of a nation grappling with the specter of climate change, the Supreme Court once again rings the alarm bells, underscoring the profound impact of environmental degradation on India’s future trajectory.
Referencing a seminal report by the Reserve Bank of India titled “Report on Currency and Finance; Towards a Greener Cleaner India” (2022-23), the Court paints a stark picture of the looming crisis. The report, the Court notes with grave concern, foretells a dire scenario of economic upheaval and social disarray should climate change continue unabated.
Quoting chilling statistics from the RBI report, the Court elucidates how climate change, with its insidious manifestations of rising temperatures and erratic monsoon patterns, threatens to ravage India’s economy, potentially shaving off a staggering 2.8 per cent of its GDP by 2050. The specter of job losses looms ominously, with India poised to bear the brunt of a projected 80 million global job losses by 2030 due to heat stress-related productivity decline.
Against this backdrop of impending doom, the Court emphasizes the critical role of forest conservation as a bulwark against environmental catastrophe. With the precision of a sage, the Court elucidates how a mere difference of one and a half degrees Celsius in temperature could spell the difference between prosperity and desolation, underscoring the pivotal role of forests in carbon sequestration and climate regulation.
In a landmark judgment, the Court reaffirms the fundamental right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change, a right enshrined within the hallowed tenets of Article 21 of the Constitution. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, in a magisterial pronouncement, emphasizes the need for a holistic approach to climate justice, one that safeguards not only the environment but also the rights of marginalized communities vulnerable to the ravages of environmental degradation.
Drawing upon the wisdom of ages past, the Court invokes the spirit of the forest as a custodian of life itself, lamenting the shortsightedness of humanity in its relentless pursuit of development at the expense of nature’s bounty. With poignant eloquence, the Court underscores the symbiotic relationship between humanity and the forest, a relationship teetering on the brink of collapse due to humanity’s unchecked greed and negligence.
In a scathing rebuke to the wanton destruction of forest cover, the Court admonishes the affluent elite for their complicity in perpetuating environmental injustice, highlighting the disproportionate impact of deforestation on vulnerable communities deprived of resources and livelihoods.
As the gavel falls on yet another landmark verdict, the Court’s clarion call for forest preservation reverberates across the land, a clarion call for a more harmonious coexistence between humanity and the natural world upon which its very survival depends.
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