ABSTRACT
This chapter builds upon the growing understanding of climate change vulnerability, which acknowledges the asymmetric social impacts of proposed solutions to climate change, to advocate for an understanding of climate litigation which includes litigation by marginalised actors against proposed climate change solutions. The primary case study is that of wind power projects in India and resistance from communities thereto. Tracing the dominant narrative of wind energy as imperative to the Indian development project, the chapter highlights the ‘other side’ of wind energy: displacement, land ownership and forest rights violations, and social conflicts among tribal, rural, and marginalised communities. The chapter then studies the role of litigation as a possible tool of resistance and means of conciliation between the seemingly conflicting interests of mainstream development and minority rights. It is argued that a limited framing of climate change litigation that excludes legal action instituted by marginalised communities challenging perceived solutions to climate change implicitly upholds the dominant narrative of climate vulnerability and heightens to marginalisation. It proposes a framework for understanding climate litigation through layers of vulnerability and shows the importance of historic marginalisation, social position, community identity, etc., indicating the outcomes of climate litigation in India. This highlights the heterogeneity of actors and interests in climate conflicts within India.
