Girl sues Indian government over inaction on climate change
A nine-year-old girl has filed a lawsuit against the Indian Government for failing to take adequate action to mitigate the effects of climate change, citing growing concern over pollution and environmental degradation in the country. In the public interest litigation (PIL) filed on March 31with the National Green Tribunal (NGT), a special court for environment-related cases established in 2010, Ridhima Pandey said the government has failed to implement its environment laws. "As a young person (Ridhima) is part of a class that amongst all Indians is most vulnerable to changes in climate, yet are not part of the decision making process," the 52-page petition said. It called on the tribunal to direct the government "to take effective, science-based action to reduce and minimize the adverse impacts of climate change".
The NGT has asked the Ministry of Environment and the Central Pollution Control Board to respond within two weeks. A spokesman from the Ministry of Environment told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that they would respond as directed by the tribunal. The NGT has given two weeks to respondents, listing the next hearing for May 4.
India, the world’s third carbon emitter, after China and the United States, is home to four of the 10 worst ranked cities in the world for air pollution. Along with China, India accounted for more than half the total number of global deaths attributable to air pollution in 2015, according to a recent study. Despite several laws to protect India's forests, clean up its rivers and improve air quality, critics are concerned that implementation is poor, and economic growth often takes precedence over the environment. According to the World Bank, climate change will exacerbate the stress on India’s water sources, and the country is expected to suffer major health crises.
Ridhima has argued that India has failed to put into action the promises it made in signing and ratifying the Paris Agreement on climate change. Flash floods and landslides in her home state of Uttarakhand, in the foothills of the Himalayas, killed hundreds of people and left tens of thousands homeless in 2013. Ridhima was exposed to forest and wildlife at the age of two. Credit goes to her mother, Vinita, who works with the forest department and wildlife activist father, Dinesh, for instilling in her concern for environmental issues. "For someone so young, she is very aware of the issue of climate change, and she is very concerned about how it will impact her in future," said Rahul Choudhary, a lawyer representing her. "She wanted to do something that can have a meaningful effect, and we suggested she could file a petition against the government," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Ridhima is not the first child in India to take the government to task over inaction to protect the environment. Last year, six teenagers filed a petition with the NGT over air pollution in New Delhi which has the worst air quality in the country.
The critically high level of air pollution during the great smog in Delhi and the adjoining areas in November 2016, has been regarded as one of the worst levels of air quality in and around the Indian capital since 1999. India is taking some action to mitigate the damage. As a signatory to the Paris Agreement on climate change, it is committed to ensuring that at least 40 percent of its electricity is generated from non-fossil-fuel sources by 2030. However, Ridhima argues India has failed to put into action its Paris Agreement commitment. In her petition, she asked the court to order the government to assess industrial projects for climate-related issues, prepare a "carbon budget" to limit carbon dioxide emissions, and create a national climate recovery plan.
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