The Supreme Court on Saturday said that urban planning and development authorities in the country must “seriously consider the climate change angle” and that it is an overarching constitutional obligation to consider and support adaptation, climate resiliency and sustainability.
This was included in an order issued by a two-member bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan. The bench gave the order on a civil petition filed by residents and businesspeople of the federal capital over a decision of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to first allow and then disallow the commercialization of residential properties of the petitioners in front of the Industrial and Trading Center, in Sector G-9/4, Islamabad.
In a note contained within the order, titled, “Urban Planning, Climate Change and the role of the CDA and other Urban Development Authorities,” the judges said that the importance of regulating land use for orderly urban development cannot be understated.
The judges stated that public welfare naturally encompasses the pressing issues of the time, such as climate change; environmental degradation; food and health safety; air pollution; water pollution; noise pollution; soil erosion; natural disasters; desertification and flooding having an appreciable impact on public health, food safety, natural resource conservation, environmental protection, social equity, social choice, etc. “Any initiative to revise land-use regulations must be based on the aforesaid considerations in order to ensure that urban development standards stay relevant to current issues of the community,” they said.
Noting that vulnerabilities caused by climate change necessitated planned urban development, the SC said that climate change posed “a series of interrelated challenges to the country’s most densely populated places: its cities.” The apex court further noted how critical infrastructure such as water and sewage systems, roads, bridges, and power plants, was ageing and in dire need of repairs or replacements altogether. Climate change-induced events such as rising sea levels, storm surges, heat waves, and extreme weather events will only serve to compound these issues.
“Climate change and its impacts threaten the well-being of urban residents,” the top court said, adding, “The nation’s economy, security, and culture all depend on the resilience of urban infrastructure systems.” Climate changes affect the built, natural, and social infrastructure of cities, from storm drains to urban waterways to the capacity of emergency responders, the court noted, adding that the vulnerability of urban dwellers multiplies when the effects of climate change interact with pre-existing urban stressors, such as deteriorating infrastructure, areas of intense poverty, and high population density.
The order added that the National Climate Change Policy 2021 focused on adaptation and mitigation with a major emphasis on nature-based solutions including vegetal cover expansion, coastal resource management, and mangrove and natural reef ecosystem protection.
Despite that, the court said that infrastructure-based solutions for climate-proofing are required including stormwater drainage, water supply and treatment plants, as well as the protection or relocation of energy or solid waste management facilities, while some coastal cities may also need to plan for a rise in sea levels. “Shutting eyes to the ominous signs of climate change will plunge us into a world that may not be able to sustain fundamental human values,” the court stated, adding that it could even affect our basic physical and larger social needs including harnessing and consuming energy, water and food as well as habitation, travelling and communication potentialities.
While town planning in the early days of the country may not have been driven by climate considerations, it must now form a basic determinant of urban planning and design. “Any change in the Master Plan to an urban scheme without taking account of the climate factor would be detrimental,” the top court noted.
It suggested adopting the “Right to the City” framework for articulating alternative visions of the city while making demands on issues related to urban equity and social justice. With fundamental rights to life, dignity and property guaranteed under the Constitution, the court noted that climate change can impair the quality of life of a person, offend his dignity and deprive him of his property or the right to fully enjoy his property.
