Nine-Year-Old Girl Fights For Healthy Climate in India

ELAW partner Rahul Choudhary and his colleagues at the Legal Initiative for Forests and Environment (LIFE), have filed a petition on behalf of Ridhima Pandey, seeking orders to ensure the Government of India is properly taking into account impacts of its activities on the climate
and developing an appropriate national climate recovery plan.

The petition asks the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change to develop a plan “with priority actions aimed at reducing GHG emissions by transitioning away from the development and use of fossil fuels; protecting forests, peatlands, grasslands, soil, mangroves, and other natural resources that store carbon; and engaging in massive reforestation and other methods of natural carbon sequestration such as improved agricultural and forestry practices.”

The Guardian quotes the petitioner, a nine-year-old girl: “My country has huge potential to reduce the use of fossil fuels, and because of the government’s inaction I approached the National Green Tribunal.”

ELAW provided Rahul with legal and scientific support for the petition before the National Green Tribunal.

For current news reports, see:

The Guardian, April 7, 2017
Nine-year-old sues Indian government over climate change inaction

The Independent, April 1, 2017
Nine-year-old girl files lawsuit against Indian Government over failure to take ambitious climate action

For more information on ELAW’s work protecting the climate, see:

Moving Beyond Coal (ELAW Advocate, Winter 2017)

Climate Justice (ELAW Advocate, Autumn 2016)
Maggie Keenan
ELAW Communications Director
maggie@elaw.org

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