CLIMATE CHANGE, INTERNATIONAL LAW, AND SOUTH ASIA: LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND CLIMATE JUSTICE

Abstract

South Asia, the most eco-sensitive region in the world, is facing growing threats to environment in the forms of increased sea levels and monsoons, glacial recession and heat waves, which pose a threat to its ecosystem as well as development. The region contributes very little to the overall historical stock in emissions of greenhouse gases, but yet, it bears disproportionately the burdens of climate change, which calls into serious consideration the question of fairness, legal obligation and justice in terms of international law. The paper analyses the relationship between international climate law and the theory of climate justice but with particular emphasis on precarious nature of South Asia as it exists under international climate regime.

Based on the Paris Agreement, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and applicable jurisprudence, the paper tries to examine the legal obligations of South Asian countries, in particular, the mitigation commitments, access to adaptation finance, and the duty to protect the climate-displaced in the region. It evaluates critically the working of the principles of equity and of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) and also structurally obstacles that come in the way of significant South Asian country participation to global climate governance.

Meanwhile, this paper discusses climate justice as a normative framework and a legal aspiration- highlighting the excessive damage caused to the vulnerable groups, such as women, rural communities, and the indigenous people. It also examines the emerging domestic climate jurisprudence in the region, the increased trend of international litigation and the wider demand of binding commitments to respond to loss and damage. Conclusively, this paper shall conclude by asserting that current international legal processes should be transformed to a justice-based model that would be more responsive to regional vulnerabilities, past and unequal emissions backlogs, and the necessity of accountability in the Anthropocene.

Keywords:  Climate Change, International Environmental Law, South Asia, Climate Justice, Legal Responsibilities