On 21 March, the Supreme Court, in a judgement regarding a public interest litigation (PIL) on protecting and conserving the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB), noted that people have a fundamental right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change. The court also set up an expert committee to assess the technical feasibility of undergrounding power lines, as well as to figure out ways to conserve GIBs. The next hearing in the matter is due this month.
Collisions with high-tension overhead wires pose a major threat to the survival of the GIB species, besides habitat loss and poaching. Rajasthan and Gujarat are home to most of the current GIB population. However, they also have considerable renewable energy potential. Naturally, efforts to realise this potential have to be made as India moves towards its climate goals, which is why the states have witnessed an uptick in the construction of solar plants, wind farms, and transmission lines. This has intensified the collision threat for GIBs, while also causing further displacement and destruction of their habitats.
The GIB case has highlighted the need to develop and apply a strategy that encompasses all components of climate change adaptation and mitigation, for pre-empting any counterproductive effects, and hence minimising the need for course correction, which is often arduous. This can be achieved by adopting an ecocentric approach (which sees inherent value in all living beings and ecosystems, irrespective of their utility to humans) in all green initiatives from the planning stage itself. This should be complemented by proactive revisions of environmental regulations, strengthening of the environmental clearance process, involvement of local community to understand the region-specific complexities, and eventually, movement towards an overarching climate change law.
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Cover Image by freepik
