Climate Change Litigation and Corporate Accountability: Emerging Legal Frameworks, Climate Attribution Science, and Environmental Justice in India (2025–2026)

Abstract

Climate change has emerged as a major environmental, economic, and human-rights challenge, requiring legal mechanisms that go beyond conventional environmental regulation. Climate litigation increasingly holds governments and corporations accountable for greenhouse gas emissions, environmental degradation, and inadequate climate action. In India, constitutional protections, environmental legislation, and judicial interpretation provide an evolving foundation for climate accountability. The Supreme Court's recognition of a right to protection from the adverse effects of climate change in M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India (2024) marks an important constitutional development. This paper examines emerging legal frameworks, climate attribution science, and environmental justice in India during 2025–2026. Using a qualitative, doctrinal research methodology based on secondary sources, it analyzes corporate responsibility, climate-related litigation, scientific evidence, constitutional rights, and the challenges vulnerable communities face. It argues that effective climate accountability requires stronger disclosure obligations, scientifically informed judicial processes, transparent corporate emissions reporting, and equitable remedies. The study recommends an integrated legal framework that connects environmental protection, corporate governance, climate science, and social justice.