Dr. Manjeri Subin Sunder Raj
B.A., LL.B (Hons.) (NUALS, 2007), LL.M (2011), Ph.D. (NLSIU, 2018)
Independent Member, Knowledge Experts, United Nations Harmony with Nature
Climate change and its aftereffects have never been discussed, ever before, as often as it is currently, and rightly so. The plight that we as a race find ourselves in is, to say the least, pathetic. Defined by the UNFCCC as “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over a considerable time period,” this phenomenon has brought untold misery to every conceivable entity. GHG emissions “now substantially exceed the highest concentrations recorded in ice cores during the past 800,000 years“i as the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). How humans deal with this kind of never-before-seen or experienced peril is surely dependent on how we, as a race, respond. The future of our race is under an imminent threat, and we have no option but to figure out ways to avoid our extinction.
In the United States, the Clean Power Plan, which aimed at tackling carbon pollutionii, met a roadblock with Justice Scalia. But, his death renewed hopesiii. Global warming has forced many to seek refuge, but unfortunately, they will not be treated as refugeesiv under the Refugee Convention of 1951. India, too was no exception and witnessed many deathsv and floodsvi. In Syria, the worst drought on record was a catastrophe for the farming community and created havoc in the food supply.vii The recent Australian bushfires surely were an eye-openerviii. One cannot help but notice the ever-increasing instancesix! Instead of empowering local communities, the resource curse phenomenon increases strife and conflict between and amongst local communitiesx. This has also led to the spread of many an epidemic, the Zika Virus, for example, wherein the change in climate was instrumental in providing a conducive environment – one where the virus was able to flourish, wreak havoc, and unleash untold miseryxi.
The search for a solution will, surely, lead us to many an option. Law can be identified as one of the many tools that we have devised to ensure compliance. But is it successful?xii By relying on the concept of Rights and Duties, the law does seem to be a worthy candidatexiii. It tends to look into the requirements of the society, understands its pulse, and then gradually evolves. This helps to create an intricate connection between the two most important components of law– rights, and duties, and societyxiv. A healthy and robust legal system is one in which both these components supplement each other. Such rights and duties, whether it is collective or individual in nature, need to be consideredxv. However, one cannot help but notice that law has not been able to instill in man the very elements of environmental protection in its truest sense – as it is seen mostly as an external factorxvi, validated by the fact that law is anthropocentric in nature. Climate law, sadly, is no exception.
Bringing about a paradigm shift so as to include an eco-centric approach in law- national, regional, or global, is what needs to be achieved. It is high time that mankind figures out a mechanism that is able to bring about a revolutionary change in tackling this menace. The Rights of Nature movement, based on these lines, acts as a good start by imbibing within its fold an eco-centric approach, which, if it garners enough support, can truly revolutionize the way in which law tackles environmental problems. By considering humans as one among the various other components present, this approach, surely, will be able to rewrite the law and mend those ecological inequities and inequalities that are rampant in current day law – more so because the aim is to tend to intrinsic value rather than instrumental value.
Bibliography:
i See https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/energy-and-the-environment/greenhouse-gases-and-the-climate.php, last accessed on 03/06/2021.
ii This reiterates the ideals based on which the Paris Negotiations of 2015 were held. For more see, https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/international/negotiations/paris_en, last accessed on 03/06/2021.
iiihttp://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/antonin-scalia-clean-power-plan-obama-climate-change/462807/, last accessed on 03/06/2021.
iv Refer Art 1(2) , Refugee Convention, 1951. Also see, Manjeri Subin Sunder Raj, The Climate has Changed and There is Nowhere to Go! An Appraisal of Ioane Teitiota v. The Chief Executive of Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, New Zealand, JELPD 3 (2016) 162.
v Christian Parenti, Farmer suicides, Naxal violence linked to climate change, The Times of India, December 2, 2015.
vi K.S. Rajgopal, Chennai floods due to climate change?, The Hindu, December 14, 2015.
vii Justin Worland, Why Climate Change and Terrorism Are Connected, Time, November 15, 2015. viiiSee, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/08/opinion/australia-fires.html, last accessed on last accessed on 03/06/2021; https://time.com/longform/australia-bushfires-photos/, last accessed on last accessed on 03/06/2021.
ix https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/global-warming-effects/, last accessed on last accessed on 03/06/2021.
x Vidya Venkat, In Paris, taking stock of the big challenges, The Hindu, January 4, 2016.
xi Oliver Wilman, Is climate change helping Zika spread?, The Hindu, February 11, 2016.
xii Laws have always been a product of the society. Societal conscience and many other factors have contributed to its making. For an analysis of an alternative to law, in securing environment protection, see, Manjeri Subin Sunder Raj, Fostering Human Duty in Protecting the Environment: The Role of Religion and the Growth of Environmentalism, Journal of Dharma, 2014, p. 7.
xiii For more see, Stephen D. Hudson and Douglas N. Husak, Legal Rights: How Useful Is Hohfeldian Analysis? , 37 Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition 45 (1980).
xiv See in general, Carlton Kemp Allen, Legal Duties, 40 The Yale Law Journal 331 (1931); Arthur L. Corbin, Rights and Duties 33 The Yale Law Journal 501 (1924); Henry T. Terry, Legal Duties and Rights, 12 The Yale Law Journal 185 (1903); Joseph Raz, The Nature of Rights, 93 Mind 194 (1984).
xv Supra n. 13.
xvi Ibid.
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POLICY MILIEU 