Ridhima Pandey

Ridhima Pandey
Nationality	Indian
Occupation(s)	Student and environmental activist
Parent	Dinesh Pandey (father)
Awards	BBC's 100 women 2020

Ridhima Pandey is an Indian environmental activist from India. She works for actions against climate change. She has been favoured to Greta Thunberg. During the age of 9 years, she filed against the Indian Government a case for not taking enough steps to fight for climate changes. She was also one of the people who complained cases to the United Nations. She is one of the several young climate activists. She stands against several nations' failure to take actions against the climate crisis.

Background

Pandey lives in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. Her father is Dinesh Pandey. Her father works in Wildlife Trust India. Her father is also a climate activist and has worked in Uttarakhand in this capacity for 16 years. Her mother is Vinita Pandey. Her mother works for Forest Department of Uttarakhand.

Her interest in climate change started when her home has been affected by severe weather over the past three years. In 2013, over 1000 people died in cause of "2013 North India floods" and landslides. These also made her fell interested in these topics. Almost 100, 000 people had to be taken out from the disaster region. According to the World Bank, climate change is likely to increase pressure on the water supply in India.

Climate activism

Legal actions against the Indian Government

At age of nine, Pandey filed a case against the Indian Government. Her case was based on the lack of the steps taken against climate change. Such steps had been agreed in the Paris Agreement. This court case was presented in the National Green Tribunal (NGT). Pandey also asked the Government to prepare a plan to reduce carbon emissions. She also asked about a nationwide plan to control the impacts of climate change.

In an interview with The Independent, Pandey said:

“My Government has failed to take steps to regulate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are causing extreme climate conditions. This will impact both me and future generations. My country has huge potential to reduce the use of fossil fuels, and because of the Government's inaction I approached the National Green Tribunal.”

The NGT rejected her request. They said stating that it was covered under the environment agreement assessment.

Complaint to the United Nations

During her application for a Norwegian visa to go to Oslo, she heard about an organization for young climate activists. She went to the organization. She was selected to go to New York City for the 2019 United Nations Climate Action summit. During the summit, on 23 September 2019, Pandey with 15 other children, complained to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. She accused Argentina, Brazil, Germany, France and Turkey for violating the "Convention on the Rights of the Child". It was because the said countries failed to explain the climate problems sufficiently.

Award

Pandey was listed in the BBC's 100 Women announced on 23 November 2020. She was also given the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice in 16 December 2021 in New Delhi.