ANNOUNCEMENTS
The escalating impacts of climate change—manifested in extreme weather events, pandemics, and rising temperatures—pose profound challenges to global health systems, particularly in developing nations.1 These effects are disproportionately borne by marginalized populations, exacerbating existing socioeconomic and health disparities.2 This dissertation explores the critical intersection of climate resilience, healthcare infrastructure, and environmental justice, with a specific focus on India and other countries in the Global South.
The study defines climate-resilient health care infrastructure as systems capable of anticipating, withstanding, and adapting to climate-induced shocks while maintaining equitable access to essential health services. Drawing on frameworks such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals, and India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), the dissertation examines both international and national legal and policy approaches. It reveals significant governance, legal, and infrastructural gaps—particularly a lack of enforceable mechanisms to protect vulnerable groups and ensure environmental justice.
Through doctrinal legal research, policy analysis, and case studies from India and peer countries like Bangladesh, Rwanda, and Fiji, this dissertation identifies best practices and deficiencies in current frameworks. It highlights how health equity can be advanced through climate-informed infrastructure, community participation, and inclusive governance.^10 The research proposes actionable reforms—such as legally mandated climate vulnerability assessments, equity-based resource allocation, and interdisciplinary planning—to embed environmental justice into climate-resilient health systems.
Ultimately, this work contributes to scholarship and policymaking by emphasizing that building climate-resilient healthcare systems is not only a technical and public health necessity but also a legal and moral imperative to uphold justice for the most climate-vulnerable.
Keywords: Climate resilience, health care infrastructure, environmental justice, India, legal frameworks, marginalized populations, policy reform.
