Permanent Legal Steps to Protect Environment: Bangladesh CJ

Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed has said the judiciary of Bangladesh has taken various permanent legal initiatives to protect environment.

Referring to different important judgments from the country's apex court to ensure environmental quality in the cases of hazardous industries like ship-breaking, the chief justice said Bangladesh's judiciary has taken the lead in establishing environmental rights as fundamental rights.

Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed said these while addressing a function titled "Climate Justice and the Constitution: Reflection from the Global South" at New York University (NYU) Abu Dhabi on April 28.

Conducted by varsity's Law Department Professor Pavlos Eleftheriadis, the function was attended by a good number of students, teachers, jurists and other professionals, a Supreme Court press release said here today.

The program analyzes the relationship between constitutions, human rights, and climate change from the perspective of developing countries like Bangladesh, which are vulnerable to environmental risks.

"A review of history shows that although developed countries have played the largest role in carbon emissions, today it is developing countries, which emit relatively less carbon, that are facing the devastating effects of climate change. So, the climate crisis is not just an environmental emergency, rather, it is also a crisis of justice," said Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed.

He delivered a powerful message to the future generation of lawyers, and said, "Climate justice is no longer a belated ideal, rather a constitutional commitment."

The Chief Justice called upon the new generation of lawyers and judges to adopt a specific approach to environmental protection in lawmaking, law enforcement, and the judicial process, reports BSS.