Judiciary – The Unexpected Ally in Environmental Conservation: A Comparative Analysis of Judiciary’s Role in Environmental Conservation in India and Brazil

The most pressing concern, endangering the existence of humanity itself, is that of environmental destruction and climate change. While there is a need to give generational equity the top priority, it has been observed all over the world that various corporations and Governments (legislative and executive alike) have been pushing forward unsustainable modes of development and sources of energy, whether in terms of burning down the Amazon forest to create grazing pastures for the meat industry, carving out hills and mountains for roads and soil, or fracking. In all this chaos, the citizens globally have found their refuge and an unexpected ally in the Judiciary, who, time and again, has upheld the principle of equal opportunities and democracy by advocating generational equity. This paper seeks to draw a close perusal of the role of the Judiciary in environmental conservation in India and Brazil- both resource-rich developing nations that were colonized by the European monarchies.