A 9-year-old girl filed a lawsuit against her government over climate change. Ridhima Pandey claimed India failed to uphold its environmental laws, thus adding to the climate change crisis.
Pandey filed via the National Green Tribunal, a special court in India for environmental cases. Pandey said her country's inaction on climate change was unacceptable when India signified its intent to protect the earth via the Paris Agreement among 142 countries.
"My Government has failed to take steps to regulate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are causing extreme climate conditions," Pandey told Independent exclusively. "This will impact both me and future generations" she said, adding her country had "huge potentials" in helping reduce fossil fuel emissions but did nothing.
The 9-year-old is asking India's government to set aside a carbon budget in her petition. She also wants her country to come up with a "national climate recovery plan" to ensure CO2 levels do not exceed scientific recommendations. She wants the government to also come up with alternatives to fossil fuels, plan reforestation, improve its soil and mangroves, and educate locals in proper practices in agriculture and forestry.
INSPIRING! Meet the nine-year-old, Ridhima Pandey who is suing the Indian Government over climate change->>https://t.co/tnAMPNDdzB pic.twitter.com/nQkP8u6tmL
— Greenpeace India (@greenpeaceindia) April 4, 2017
Pandey's parents have her back and it's easy to see where the young girl gets her passion for saving the earth's resources. Her father works as an environmentalist, while her mom is with the forestry department, as per Hello Giggles.
Four cities in India ranked as some of most polluted places in the world, according to the World Health Organization 2016 Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database. A study published in January also identified India's toxic air, which led to a public health crisis, as per The Guardian.
Lawyer Rahul Choudhary advised Pandey to file a petition to implore her government to act. She's not the first youth to sue the government of India over climate change, however, as six teenagers also challenged its officials last year, as per Reuters.
