TY - JOUR
T1 - Sustainability Transformations, Environmental Rule of Law and the Indian Judiciary
T2 - Connecting the Dots through Climate Change Litigation
AU - Gill, Gita
AU - Ramachandran, Gopichandran
PY - 2021/9/1
Y1 - 2021/9/1
N2 - There is an urgency to address societal challenges due to earth's environmental crisis and its capacity to sustain human well-being. In this context, ‘transformations towards sustainability’ move to centre-stage and are increasingly institutionalised within global scientific and policy discourses. Sustainability transformations involve reorientation and restructuring of governance processes and actions. Though the governance of transformation involves multiple actors, this article examines the role of the judiciary in steering a transformation process towards a sustainable and equitable future. Judicial intervention, as a strategic tool, can effect change in human action thereby enabling transformative changes. Drawing on social science literature, the article offers a novel interdisciplinary analysis of illustrative Indian climate change legal decisions located within the sustainability transformations discourse underpinned by the environmental rule of law. The Indian judiciary, noted for expansive thinking, and acting as a ‘lever of transformation’, is slowly addressing climate cases. These cases categorised as – climate conscious, climate accountability and climate futurity – reflect progressive cumulative outcomes, albeit incremental, but they nevertheless enable conditions for transformative change.
AB - There is an urgency to address societal challenges due to earth's environmental crisis and its capacity to sustain human well-being. In this context, ‘transformations towards sustainability’ move to centre-stage and are increasingly institutionalised within global scientific and policy discourses. Sustainability transformations involve reorientation and restructuring of governance processes and actions. Though the governance of transformation involves multiple actors, this article examines the role of the judiciary in steering a transformation process towards a sustainable and equitable future. Judicial intervention, as a strategic tool, can effect change in human action thereby enabling transformative changes. Drawing on social science literature, the article offers a novel interdisciplinary analysis of illustrative Indian climate change legal decisions located within the sustainability transformations discourse underpinned by the environmental rule of law. The Indian judiciary, noted for expansive thinking, and acting as a ‘lever of transformation’, is slowly addressing climate cases. These cases categorised as – climate conscious, climate accountability and climate futurity – reflect progressive cumulative outcomes, albeit incremental, but they nevertheless enable conditions for transformative change.
KW - Transformations towards sustainability
KW - climate accountability
KW - climate change and Indian judiciary
KW - climate consciousness
KW - climate futurity
KW - environmental rule of law
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118851600&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/14614529211031203
DO - 10.1177/14614529211031203
M3 - Article
VL - 23
SP - 228
EP - 247
JO - Environmental Law Review
JF - Environmental Law Review
SN - 1461-4529
IS - 3
ER -