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Code Red: Climate in the Dock
Climate Change Won’t Wait, Neither Can We
Speakers
It’s here. The climate crisis is no longer a distant warning.
Climate Change: The Policy, Law, and Practice is a vital intervention. A book that gathers decades of global negotiations, Indian legal battles, and emerging climate jurisprudence into one urgent and accessible narrative. From courtroom precedents to cutting-edge policy, from carbon markets to constitutional rights, it examines how law can both shape and respond to the climate emergency.
Author and legal expert Jay Cheema draws from his experience as Amicus Curiae to the Supreme Court of India in a landmark carbon emissions case. Guiding us through the evolving legal architecture of climate action and accountability, his presentation will be followed by an incisive conversation with an interlocutor to explore the tensions and hopes within the climate discourse. An open Q&A will close the session.
Reshaping landscapes, displacing lives, and challenging our very systems of governance, this crisis can no longer be sidelined. Forests burn where there was once monsoon green, rivers swell as glaciers retreat, and the ancient cycle of India’s six ritus feels increasingly unfamiliar. The chaos predicted by climate scientists in the 50’s is increasingly creeping into our reality.
Because the climate crisis is not only legal and political, but deeply personal.
Speakers
Jatinder Cheema
Jatinder ‘Jay’ Cheema has over 34 years of standing at the Bar in India, and is, since 1996 also a Barrister & Solicitor, qualified to practice law in Ontario (Canada), and an Advocate in the SADC Region (Southern African Development Community) since 2014. He has worked as a legal practitioner in various High Courts in India, the Supreme Court of India, before Regulators i.e. (PNGRB & DGH), Arbitral Tribunals, policy work for clients and the Government of India, and the Government of Canada.
He has been a lawyer to Project Developers, Investors, Regulators and Suppliers & Contractors on diverse commercial matters, and utilities and infrastructure advisory. He also advises regulators on various regulatory and policy issues, i.e. PNGRB, DGH, etc.
Apart from his professional engagements, he is a visiting faculty at various prestigious institutions such as IIM, MDI and IICA where he lectures on recent developments in Energy, Infrastructure Law, and Corporate Laws. He has also extensively written about the developments in Domestic and International Law in various law journals, National Dailies and Magazines. He recently released his book titled “Climate Change – The Policy, Law, and Practice” (2024) published by Thomson Reuters.
He has recently been appointed as Amici Curiae in a carbon emission case by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, New Delhi. While there are a plethora of cases concerning the environment, this is the first case in carbon emissions/climate change.
Navaneeta Bhaskar
Navaneeta Bhaskar is a sustainability and climate policy professional with a unique background at the intersection of law, technology, and the built environment. She is a trained lawyer and was previously the in-house counsel at Total Environment, a real estate company known for its design-led, environmentally conscious developments. Navaneeta holds an MBA in Sustainability from the University of Exeter, where she focused on climate policy, circular ecomomy, and sustainable business strategy. She has also led regulatory and policy research across India and Southeast Asia for a climate tech platform focused on decarbonizing the built environment. With over 8 years years of legal experience, she brings a cross-disciplinary lens to climate action—especially in areas such as ESG reporting, sustainable materials, and emissions management. She is passionate about driving climate action by helping businesses embed sustainability into their core functions and decision-making processes.
