judgment

Hanuman Laxman Aroskar v. Union of India - judgment

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On March 29, 2019, the Supreme Court of India suspended the environmental clearance for an airport in the State of Goa and ordered the government to revisit the clearance. Petitioners, citizen Hanuman Laxman Aroskar and NGO Federation of Rainbow Warriors challenged the clearance in the Supreme Court. The Court suspended the airport's environmental clearance on the grounds that the government failed to take into account impacts on the environment that were crucial to the environmental assessment process. The Court reasoned that "[f]undamental to the outcome of this case is a quest for environmental governance within a rule of law paradigm." The Court then cited both the Paris Agreement and India's Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement as key aspects of India's environmental rule of law and as reasons that the government was required to adequately balance environmental concerns with airport development goals. 

On January 16, 2020, after additional submissions by the airport project proponents, the Supreme Court lifted its suspension of the environmental clearance, allowing the airport project to go forward. The government took notice of the addition environmental impact information provided, including a commitment to make the airport a "zero carbon airport operation," and imposed addition environmental conditions on the project. The Court reasoned that the government had adequately addressed concerns outlined in its 2019 decision. The Court also appointed the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute to oversee compliance with the government's environmental conditions and ordered the project proponents to pay the costs of oversight. 

Hanuman Laxman Aroskar v. Union of India

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

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Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

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Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

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The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

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Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

A drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather marked by a significant and sustained lack of precipitation, falling below a specific threshold over a large area for more than a month

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

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Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

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Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

Hot temperature extremes are daily maximum temperatures  that were exceeded on average once in a decade or once in 50 years, and includes heatwaves.

Jobs that contribute to preserving or restoring the environment. We include jobs which require a high amount of green skills or which spend much of their time on green activities, as well as jobs transforming polluting industries.

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

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This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

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Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

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A loan is a policy instrument where funds are provided to a borrower with the expectation of repaying the principal plus interest.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

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Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

The processes through which enterprises can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts. Due diligence is the idea that reasonable precautions should be taken to avoid causing harm to people, the environment, or society. It also involves identifying and mitigating risks before they occur.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

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Hanuman Laxman Aroskar v. Union of India - judgment

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance