On October 24, 2024, the Supreme Court of Pakistan disposed of a monitoring matter arising from a petition concerning the illegal cutting of 218 shisham trees. The Court addressed the broader decline in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's forest cover and stated that deforestation contributes to landslides and flooding, reduces the sequestration of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, and exacerbates climate change in a country highly vulnerable to its effects. The Court had required the provincial government to report on the Forest Department's budget, staffing, authorized and illegal timber cutting, reforestation measures, and forest-cover measurement for the preceding five years.

The order applied Article 9A of the Constitution, inserted three days earlier, which recognizes a right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. It also reiterated that Article 9's right to life had already been interpreted to encompass a sustainable environment. After government counsel committed to promote and implement sustainable environmental practices, the Court disposed of the matter on those terms.

Mehar Badshah v. Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

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Mehar Badshah v. Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa - decision

Filed

Pakistan

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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.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

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

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

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.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

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

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

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.

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

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

Activities that relate to the production of goods and services from forests.

The cryosphere is the frozen part of the Earth—it includes sea ice, glaciers, snow, and ice sheets. It helps regulate the climate and weather by reflecting sunlight. Rising temperatures are causing melting, leading to sea ice loss, glacier collapse, and glacier landslides and avalanches. This threatens the livelihoods of around 700 million people who rely on the cryosphere for food, water security, and cultural practices.

Mehar Badshah v. Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa - decision

Risk

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience