“Climate change is now affecting every country on every continent. It is disrupting national economies and affecting lives, costing people, communities and countries dearly today and even more tomorrow. People are experiencing the significant impacts of climate change, which include changing weather patterns, rising sea level, and more extreme weather events. The poorest and most vulnerable people are being affected the most.” – Goal 13, UN Sustainable Development Goals
In this background, the paper will look into what climate change is - How is climate change impacting India in 21^st century - who are the most affected – How can ‘Development’ and environmental protection co-exist - What are the laws dealing with Environment Protection (International and domestic) - Are they Capable enough to deal with the ever rising problems with regard to climate change – Is there a need for legal reforms - Specific instances where climate change has impacted lives significantly in recent times - How to tackle climate change – way forward
Keywords: Climate Change, United Nations, India, Domestic Laws, and Poverty.
Introduction
A key component of global policy making today is to combat the harmful effects of climate change on our environment. Climate change as a phenomenon has grabbed the attention of the whole world mainly because it is something that mankind has been held responsible for. Earth’s climate is always changing. However, in the last hundred years, earth’s climate has changed drastically. The earth’s temperature has become warmer than before and it has had almost immediate effects on coastal areas, small islands, food security, health etc. In some way or the other, the whole problem of climate change has more to do with the way human beings have been conducting their lives, mostly in the era of urbanization and industrialization.