Climate nudge: Let behavioural economics solve the planet’s crisis
In a remarkable judgement delivered on 6 April 2024, a day that should stay marked memorably on our calendar, the Supreme Court of India (SC) recognized that “….the people have a right against the adverse effects of climate change." And that “this right and the right to a clean environment… [is] necessary to articulate... as a distinct right. It is recognised by Articles 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to life)." The SC judgement clearly spells out that the right to health (under Article 21) is impacted by factors that degrade the environment.
It is not only the judgement of 6 April, but the manner and context in which it was made that is of particular significance. The country’s top court was due to hear a case related to the survival of an endangered species, the great Indian bustard. The case was posted for hearing in August, but the broad climate-change judgement was uploaded on the court’s website months ahead of it.
The ruling sends out an important signal by recognizing a clean environment as a basic right and not a market-determined outcome. However, we need ‘glocal’ (global and local) commitments and actions to treat a clean environment as a basic right. While markets can solve complicated problems, ‘market failures’ often make outcomes worse than what would have been the case if market solutions had not been relied upon.
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