Asghar Leghari

Asghar Leghari graduated from SAHSOL in (2013) and went on to gain an LLM at Duke University in (2018). Asked to comment on this significant case, he writes the following:

Climate litigation is by no means a panacea, but it is necessary. The impact of judicial intervention in matters of policy may seem undesirable and its impact limited but given Pakistan's high vulnerability to climate impacts coupled with governmental inaction in respect thereof, any conscientious citizen would feel compelled to act. Hailing from the rural south of Punjab and having witnessed the impacts firsthand served as the primary impetus to initiate the action before the Lahore High Court.

The significance of the case, in my opinion, is multifold. Personally, it fortified my confidence in the ability of an individual to have an impact as an agent of positive change - a component necessary in the mindset of the litigator. On the larger scale, the case and the commission made thereunder nudged the government to complete priority actions and introduced "climate change" in the administrative lexicon of state functionaries. This was my primary objective, which I feel has certainly been achieved.

The case has made a lasting impact both jurisprudentially and academically. It is cited not just locally but also in other jurisdictions - the latest being before the ICJ in the "Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States regarding Climate Change". From the point of academic inquiry, it is discussed in many law and public policy courses and is the subject of many doctoral dissertations.