A country under siege, not by war or strife, but by nature itself. Pakistan, ranked as the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change, stands on the frontline of climate catastrophe: glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate, cities are choking in thick blankets of smog, and monsoons wreak havoc in urban and rural areas across the country.
Warnings of these disasters were long apparent. Yet, the legislative and executive bodies chose a different path — one paved with neglect, broken promises, and self-serving agendas. Laws meant to shield the nation from environmental damage were ignored or twisted, and the necessary action was shelved in the name of profit.
As nature’s fury surged, the patience of the people wore thin. Tired of waiting for the legislative and administrative branches to take action, people turned to the judiciary seeking accountability and action.
Speaking about the role of judiciary in addressing these issues, Dr Parvez Hassan, senior advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan said: “Judges mostly step in to solve problems that the governments and society have failed to resolve; it is the apathy in government responses to critical issues facing the common man that, in many cases, facilitated the ‘activism’ of our judiciary.”
Pakistan’s legal framework for environmental protection began with the Environmental Protection Act of 1997, evolved into the Climate Change Act of 2017 and ultimately led to the introduction of Article 9A in the Constitution, which grants every citizen the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.
On the global front, Pakistan has aligned with significant frameworks such as the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). These agreements emphasise environmental standards, encourage sustainable practices, and offer financial support to developing countries, especially through climate finance initiatives such as the Green Climate Fund. Pakistan’s commitment to these international accords underlines its role in the global environmental effort.
Despite these safeguards, green spaces across the country have continued to be destroyed or encroached upon by authorities, often with impunity. Climate change laws have rarely been honoured in spirit or action.
But where the executive branches fell silent, the judiciary rose to defend what was left — establishing commissions to address these issues on policy level, enshrining the right to clean and healthy environment and saving the green spaces from encroachers. That is not to say, however, that the courts have been entirely successful either — with little to no implementation on the part of the executive, even court orders have failed to produce much results thus far.
It’s a battle that began three decades........