Indian Corporations, Climate Change, and The Law
| Date | 01 July 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/23220058211028431 |
| Author | Trishla Dubey |
| Published date | 01 July 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Indian Corporations, Climate
Change, and The Law
Trishla Dubey1
Abstract
Climate change is one of the biggest problems that humans have created for the whole of mankind.
Discussions on combating climate change have been continuing since last 30 years when the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted at the Rio Conference in 1992.
Despite this, nothing significant has been achieved so far. Due to public sector’s finite capabilities and
increasing footprint of globalization and privatization, the world is rolling its eyes now on the private
corporations to take the lead in this fight against climate change. This article will discuss the historic
role that these corporations have played since climate change negotiation days, their contribution at
present, and the progressive or regressive role they are set to play in future. The special focus of this
article will be on analysing the role of Indian corporations and the existing legal framework governing
them and its challenges. At the culmination of this article, the author will try to suggest mechanisms to
magnify and intensify private sector contribution in combating climate change with minimum friction
and maximum accountability and cohesion.
Introduction
Climate change is one of the most fundamental common concerns of humankind. Anthropogenic green-
house gas (GHG) emissions are primarily responsible for this global problem. The emission of GHGs
warms the atmosphere intensifying the process of climate change. Climate change has widespread
impact on all ecosystems—natural and manmade. It could lead to sea-level rise, ocean acidification,
snow melting, change in weather patterns, and so on.2 Thus, the Paris Agreement in 2015 aims to limit
the global average temperature rise to 2°C above pre-industrial levels and further pursue nations to limit
this to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.3 Despite global recognition of this crisis, Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report (2018) revealed that due to human-induced warming,
1 Assistant Professor of Law, Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur, India.
2 IPCC Synthesis Report, 2014. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri & L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 at 6.
3 Paris Agreement, 2015, Art. 2(1)(a).
Asian Journal of Legal Education
8(2) 220–233, 2021
© 2021 The West Bengal National
University of Juridical Sciences
Reprints and permissions:
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DOI: 10.1177/23220058211028431
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Corresponding author:
Trishla Dubey, Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
E-mail: trishla@nlunagpur.ac.in
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