Legal and Institutional Framework

Legal and Institutional Framework

Introduction

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992 recognized the entitlement of human beings to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature . The threshold of the Rio Declaration was the recognition of right to development and more importantly sustainable development. With the adoption of Rio, the global community committed to integrate environmental issues into mainstream economic and social policy and reduce and eliminate unsustainable patters of production and consumption .

Commitments recorded in the Rio declaration call for legal and judicial activism. When commitment for sustainable development suffers judicial review can be sought on the basis of the Rio principles of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities' , ‘polluters pay' , ‘precautionary approach' and ‘EIA' . While the Rio declaration in Principle 11 requires the states to enact effective environmental legislation and standards, access to judicial and administrative review process becomes relevant to uphold people's rights that such laws would endure. Right to participation and access to environmental decision making process need express legal recognition that the judiciary can safeguard in appropriate instance.

The post-Rio developments in the legal and judicial area of Bangladesh have showed respect to the Rio commitments and also the framework of Agenda-21 that requires protection of fragile eco-system and resources.

This paper would highlight on the legal and judicial interventions in Bangladesh that have contributed in promoting sustainable development and environmental management as pledged by the global community in various international conventions, treaties and protocols (CTPs).

General Development and Environment Context of Bangladesh

Bangladesh with a total area of 147570 sq. km is home to some 140 million people of which 49 percent are women. The country's network of 230 rivers runs across 24140 km . Forests comprises 14 percent of the total land area.

Eighty percent of the population is rural. One half of the population lives in poverty and one third in extreme poverty. A further 20 percent of the population are tomorrow's poor; those who will join the ranks of the poor given the current trends of development and ecological degradation.

The agrarian economy of Bangladesh accounts for one-third of the GDP and employs two-thirds of the labour force . The fisheries sector employs about 1.2 million people while the employment in the forests sector is about 2 percent of the total labour force . Fish still remains the major source of proteins for 60 percent Bangladeshis.

Life and livelihoods in Bangladesh, especially for the poor, depends deeply on nature. Any undue interference with water, land, forest, fishery and other environmental resources would inevitably impact the lives of the people of whom 47.5 percent are income poor and 76.9 percent capability poor . The relationship of the people of Bangladesh with nature cannot be overemphasized and can be stated from the words of the Secretary General of the UN Mr. Kofi Anan.

"The great majority of Bangladeshis live in rural areas, on the frontlines of resources management, natural disaster and environmental awareness. For them the relationship between human beings and the natural world is a daily reality, not an abstract idea. Our biggest challenge in this new century is to take an idea that seems abstract sustainable development and turn it into a daily reality for all the world's people."

Over time, the gradual degradation of resources particularly land, contamination of water, loss of fisheries, traditional species and depletion of forests became visible in Bangladesh with adverse impact on life and livelihood. In the last decade or so, environmentalists in Bangladesh, the state organs and the citizens groups have rightly identified the depletion of environmental resources as a major cause of poverty in the country.

There are certain environmental concerns and factors that are the result of activities originating beyond the frontiers of Bangladesh. These include legal questions relating to the use of natural resources like the waters of shared rivers, environmental hazards like the frequent floods, droughts and salinity, global warming, climate change and so on. The efficacy of the environmental legal system in certain areas is dependent on attitudes of neighboring countries and so cannot be redressed unilaterally. The Constitution of Bangladesh affirms commitments to international laws and principles, and Bangladesh is a signatory to most major international conventions, treaties, and protocols on environment.

Major Environmental Issues Facing Bangladesh

A. Regional/Global:

- Ecological changes due to share water disputes - Maritime boundary dispute and a weaker regime on marine resources
- Greenhouse effect and its consequence on Bangladesh, global warming and climate change
- Refugees and migration
- Ecological effect caused by trans-boundary acts
- International trade and environmental regimes such as Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT), World Trade Organization (WTO), Climate Change Protocols, Convention on Biological Diversity and so on.

B. National:

- Population and poverty
- Degradation of resources (inadequate policies)
- Conflict of development with environment; illiteracy vs. ignorance
- Pollution of water, air and soil
- Destruction of mangrove, tree cover and firewood
- Loss of fisheries
- Unplanned human settlement
- Unplanned urbanization and industrialization
- Loss of wildlife
- Natural hazards (also to include river erosion)
- Contamination of ground water

Environmental Law in the Legal Regime of Bangladesh

Sources of Environmental Laws:

The main sources of environmental law are the Constitution, statutory laws and by-laws, customs, traditional perceptions and practices, international conventions, treaties and protocols.

An investigation into the statutory laws prevailing in Bangladesh would reveal that there are about 187 laws that deal with or have relevance to environment. The compartmentalized administration of the statutory enactment would place the laws on environment under several heads. These would include, land use and administration, water resources, fisheries, forestry, energy and mineral resources, pollution and conservation, wildlife and domestic animals, displacement, vulnerable groups, relief and rehabilitation, local government, rural and urban planning and protection. The laws on physical environment do address issues like occupational rights and safety, public safety and dangerous substances, transportation and safety, cultural and natural heritage and so on.

The environmental legislation are sectorally compartmentalized especially the substantive and administrative rules. The procedural rules for the Courts to administer these laws would be derived mostly from the same general codes, e.g., the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, the Criminal Procedure Code, 1989 and the Evidence Act, 1872.

Recent Development in the Legal Regime

The law that deals specifically with environment is the Environment Conservation Act (ECA), 1995 . The Act has come into force since the June 1995 and to some extent has recognized the Rio principles of precaution, polluters' pay and people's participation. The ECA has replaced the earlier Environment Pollution Control Ordinance, 1977 and has added new dimension to environment management by making a shift from ‘pollution control' to ‘environment conservation'. The recent amendment of the Act in 2002 has given the provisions of the law overriding effect over all other laws .

According to section 2(d) of the ECA environment shall include water, air, land and physical properties. The inter relationship among and between these components of environment and human and other living beings, plants and micro-organisms are also included in the broader definition of environment.

The ECA has established the Department of Environment (DoE) and has authorized its Director General (DG) to take all such steps as are necessary for the conservation of environment, improvement of environmental standard and control and mitigation of pollution . In line with Section 11 of the Agenda 21 that calls for conservation and management of resources for development, the ECA in Section 5 has authorized the government to declare areas of great ecological importance as Ecologically Critical Area. Such legal authority would allow the government to declare fragile eco systems as critical or protected areas and bring them under special management system.

Section 5 of the ECA reads as follows:

"Declaration of Ecologically Critical Area – (1) If the Government is satisfied that due to degradation of environment the eco-system of any area has reached or is threatened to reach a critical state, the Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare such area as ecologically critical area.

(2) The Government shall specify, in the notification provided in subsection (1) or in any other separate notification, which of the operations or processes shall be carried out or shall not be initiated in the ecologically critical area."

Under Section 5, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has already declared 8 areas including one mother fishery (wetland), fragile coral island, part of world's largest mangrove forest as ecologically critical areas and has brought them under special protective measures. Such initiative of the Government of Bangladesh strongly supports its commitment expressed under the various CTPs including the Convention in Biological Diversity, 1992 and the Convention on Wetlands of International importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, 1971. Most recently, the cabinet on 22 July 2002 has approved the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness Response and Cooperation, 1990 paving the way to protect its territorial water from oil pollution.

Section 2(1) of the Act defines ‘wastes' and authorizes the Government to determine the standard for discharge and emission of waste including radioactive wastes [Section 20(2)(e)]. Hazardous substance has also been defined [Section 2(i)] and the Government has been authorized to lay down rules for environmentally sound management of hazardous substances and toxic wastes. Although the Government is yet to exercise its rule making powers, these legal developments correspond to the accepted framework of Agenda 21 calling for environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes and substances. At the national frontier, the Government in exercise of its powers under the Agricultural Pesticides Ordinance, 1971 has banned the import of ten pesticides for their hazardous impact on vegetation human and animal life . Worth mentioning, Bangladesh has ratified the Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, 1989. The country has also signed the recently adopted Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutant, 2001 on 23 May 2001.

Section 12 of the ECA incorporates the precautionary principle by requiring industrial unit or projects to be established after obtaining environmental clearance from the DoE. Any violating unit may be shut down by the DG, DoE. The amended ECA empowers the government to ban products that are harmful to environment and the government, with active participation from the people, has been very successful in banning the production, use and sale of polythene products below 20 macron.

The most significant advancements after the enactment of the ECA have been the setting up of quality standard for air, water, noise and soil and the formulation of environmental guidelines to control and mitigate pollution. The setting up of such standards has been done through the Environment Conservation Rules framed in 1997. The Rules have detailed out the development where environmental impact assessment (EIA) would be necessary. This has made EIA mandatory for specified projects and industries although procedural details of EIA are yet to follow. The Government may think of making the EIA process participatory ensuring access in decision-making process.

The ECA has made it an offence to discharge excessive pollutants and causing damage, direct or indirect, to eco-systems. Sections 7 and 9 of the ECA have in effect incorporated the principle of ‘polluters pay'. Under Section 7 the DG shall require any person including companies responsible for pollution to adopt corrective measures and also to pay good the losses caused by such pollution. In the event of failure by the polluter to prevent emission of excessive discharge the DG shall initiate the needed remedial measures and the expenses incurred shall be recovered from the polluter as public demand .

The ECA tends to ensure access to administrative proceedings and also to participation in the decision making process. Section 8 of the ECA allows a person affected or likely to be affected from the pollution or degradation of environment to apply to the DG for remedying the damage or apprehended damage. The DG may adopt any measures including public urts required a written report from the DG. The requirement of report from DG, DoE would have adverse affect on right to justice. Fortunately, the original Act has been amended in a positive fashion. The requirement of written report although still valid, may be relaxed at the discretion of the judiciary if there appears to be a prima facie case and also failure on part of DoE to take proper initiative.

Amended Section 4A of the ECA has required all statutory agencies to render assistance and services to the DG on his request.

Violation of the provisions of the Act has been made an offence and may be visited with a penalty of Taka 10 lakh and/or 10 years of imprisonment . The Act has recently been amended to provide for different punishment for violation of different provisions.

For proper implementation of the ECA, it has been proposed to set up environmental courts in the six administrative divisions of the country . The proposed courts would administer the environmental offences under the ECA and also other laws as may be notified by the Government in official Gazette. This revolutionary step aims at ensuring speedy trial and disposal of environmental cases. The Act provides in details the investigation and trial procedure for the Courts comprising of members of the subordinate judiciary. Section 9 of the Act empowers the Environmental Courts to use the fine realized as compensation for the people affected by the environmental offence.

The judges for two environmental courts have already been appointed and it is expected that the judicial system will start functioning soon.

An amendment to the Forest Act, 1927 in 2000 has provided scope for public participation in environmental resource management. The newly added section 28A has given express legal recognition to the concept of social forestry and has empowered the government to make rules requiring an ‘agreed upon management plan' for social forestry programmes. The rules are in the process of finalization.

Another significant piece of law enacted in 2000 is the Open Space Protection Act, 2000 . With proper implementation of the law, the respective authorities can protect the natural water bodies including the flood plains of the urban areas from filing up for the sake of urbanization and development.

In addition, legal regime on environment contains provisions recognizing customary rights over forest , access to open water fisheries and participation in the development process while finalizing water related schemes and master plan for urban areas . Legal regime provides punishment against pollution of territorial waters and prohibits pollution of air, water and soil from agricultural, fishery, industry, vehicle and other sources . Environmental resources like forest and fishery have been given special status for protection purposes.

Environment in the National Budget

Since the 1995-1996 fiscal year, environment has received attention in the national budget. In the national budget for 1998-99 fiscal year specific recommendations were made to protect bio-diversity in the wetlands and the coastal belt. Emphasis was given on social forestry.

In the 1999-2000 fiscal year, tax was increased on importation of the polluting two-stroked engine vehicles. Allocation was made for a project on air quality management.

Special allocation for environmental projects was made in the national budget for the fiscal year of 2000-2001 . The budget identified loss of bio-diversity, pollution by the industries, air pollution, ground water contamination, use of polythene, deforestation and poverty as major reasons for environmental degradation. Allocation was made to address arsenic mitigation, air quality management and afforestation. Tariff on environment friendly machinery and pump was reduced with a ban on import of two-stoked engine vehicles.

The budget for the fiscal year 2001-2002 allocated fund for bio-diversity conservation of the mangrove of Sunderbans (world's largest mangrove forest) and St. Martin Island. Separate allocations were also made for mitigation of arsenic contamination and reduction of air pollution. The budget proposed to reduce the import duty on 4-stroke CNG-driven three wheelers to 15 percent from 37.5 percent. Duty on battery-operated three wheelers was also reduced. To discourage use of plastic products, duty on raw materials of polythene was increased to 30 percent to 20 percent.

The budget for the fiscal year of 2002-2003 has also made allocation for environmental programmes on air quality management.

Institutional Framework for Environmental Administration

The administration of the laws on resource management is entrusted with respective ministries and public agencies. In 1989, a separate ministry called the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) was created with the following major functions:

1. Management of environment and ecology.
2. Matters relating to environment pollution control.
3. Conservation of forests and development of forest resources (government and private), forest inventory, grading and quality control of forest products.
4. Afforestation and regeneration of forest extraction of forest produce.
5. Plantation of exotic cinchona and rubber.
6. Botanical gardens and botanical surveys.
7. Tree plantation.
8. Planning cell  preparation of schemes and coordination in respect of forest.
9. Research and training in forestry.
10. Mechanized forestry operations.
11. Protection of wild birds and animals and establishment of sanctuaries.
12. Matters relating to marketing of forest produce.
13. Liaison with international organizations and matters relating to treaties and agreements with other countries and world bodies relating to subjects allotted to this Ministry.

The Department of Environment (DoE) established in 1977 under the Environment Pollution Control Ordinance, 1977 still functions under the ECA. The DoE has been placed under the MoEF as its technical wing and is statutorily responsible for the implementation of the Environment Conservation Act, 1995. The Ministry of Planning also has an environmental section to check the environmental aspects of the projects of the Government of Bangladesh.

Decentralization of environmental governance albeit at a nascent stage, has been attempted through the four tiers of local governments proposed for the different administrative units .

Policies and Institutional Responsibilities

Various policies adopted by the government give emphasis on management and conservation of environmental resources. These policies though not enforceable are taken as basis for administration by the concerned agencies. Being more recent documents, these p-olicies reflect on the progressive notions of environment and development. Policies on environment (1992), water (1999) , fishery (1998), energy (1996) , industry (1999) , agriculture (1999) require concerned administrative agencies to promote conservation and undertake development programme and activities in harmony with nature and eco-system.

Commitments under the Policies

National Energy Policy, 1996 commits to ensure environmentally sound sustainable energy development programmes causing minimum damage to environment. The Policy admits that unplanned and uncontrolled use of biomass fuels (contributed 65.5% of primary energy in 1990) are causing environmental degradation and committed that the demand of bio mass fuel in excess of sustainable limits is to be met by commercial fuels.

Water for environment is a notable feature of the Water Policy . The Policy recognizes that continued development and management of the water resource should include the protection and preservation of environment and its bio-diversity. As per the Policy, environmental needs and objects would be treated equally with the resource management needs. All water related agencies and departments have been required to give full consideration to environmental protection, restoration and enhancement measures consistent with the National Environment Management Action Plan (NEMAP) .

The Industrial Policy seeks to promote privatization and project the government as facilitator instead of regulator. The Policy envisaged that industrial development would be sustainable from the point of view of environmental concerns and resource availability.

Section 17 of the Agriculture Policy records concern over increased salinity of soil and excess use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides for more production. The Policy admits that saline water of the shrimp farms cause environmental pollution and calls for mitigating the same with proper implementation of the Fishery Policy.

Notified in the official gazette on 21 June 2001 the Land Use Policy states the following objectives:

(a) To prevent the current tendency for gradual and consistent decrease of cultivable land for production of food to meet the demands of the expanding population;

(b) To introduce a ‘zoning' system in order to ensure the best use of land in different parts of the country, according to their local geological differences, to logically control the unplanned expansion of residential, commercial and industrial construction;

(c) To ensure the best way of utilizing the char areas naturally rising out of river beds during dry months for the rehabilitation of the landless people;

(d) To take necessary measures to protect land, particularly government-owned land, for different development programmes that might be necessary in the future;

(e) To ensure that land use is in harmony with the natural environment;

(f) To use land resources in the best possible way and to play a supplementary role in controlling the consistent increase in the number of landless people towards the elimination of poverty and the increase of employment rate;

(g) To protect natural forest areas, prevent river erosion and to prevent the destruction of hill and hillocks;

(h) To prevent and pollution;

(i) To ensure the minimal use of land for the construction of both government and non-government multi-storied offices.

For purposes of the main land use area in Bangladesh, the Policy identifies agriculture, housing, forests, rivers, irrigation and sewerage canals, ponds, roads and highways, railways, commercial and industrial establishments, tea estates, rubber fields, horticulture gardens, the coastal belt, sandy riverbeds and char areas.

To address the issue of land records, the LUP proposed a certificate of land ownership. It stated:

"Under the present system of land administration, the ownership of land is not complete or valid with any single document or registered deeds, survey records are parts of this process. Due to this, on one hand, land-related disputes arise and lawsuits are made frequently and on the other hand innocent and unsuspecting people fall victim to counterfeit documents and other land-related hassles. To prevent this situation from happening plan for a universal and single document to protect the rights of land owners are being considered. If the Certification of Land Ownership (CLO) scheme is successfully implemented it can be hoped that the current tendency of the ownership of government land being illegally possessed by individuals can be prevented to a significant extent."

The Policy also emphasized the creation of a land data base and its regular updating.

Administration of Environmental Justice: The Court Cases

On the fact of activism by the civil society, the judiciary in Bangladesh has started responding to cases seeking environmental justice. Judicial activism contributes to proper implementation of environmental laws and allows the vast majority of the backward section access to the justice system.

As a result of progressive interpretation by the judiciary of some constitutional and legal provisions, ‘public interest litigation' (PIL) and ‘right to environment' have received express legal recognition. The cases decided by the judiciary have tended to activate the executive, create wider awareness and affected the value system of the administration and the society. In the cases on environment decided so far by the judiciary, directions have been given to the government agencies to perform their statutory functions. All these decided cases have addressed issues on sustainable development, precautionary principle, participation and access and are rather landmark decisions.

With increased number of PILs in Bangladesh, it can now be said that the environmentalists and the civil society places confidence in the judiciary in redressing the grievance of the downtrodden and the deprived. In deciding some of the cases the judiciary has endorsed the innovations that justice require in one recent incident, the High Court even intervened and issued suo moto rule to protect a public garden from encroachment.

Environmental Nuisance should be Mitigated

Judicial recognition for protection of environment was first recorded by the High Court in a case that challenged nuisance during election campaign. The judiciary disposed of the case on assurance from the Attorney General to take measures against defacing of public and private property in the name of election campaign.

Right to Environment

The judiciary, while deciding on a case involving importation of radiated milk attached broader meaning to the constitutional ‘right to life' and held "Right to life is not only limited to the protection of life and limbs but extends to the protection of health and strength of the workers, their means of livelihood, enjoyment of pollution-free water and air, bare necessaries of life, facilities for education, development of children, maternity benefit, free movement, maintenance and improvement of public health by creating and sustaining conditions congenial to good health and ensuring quality of life consistent with human dignity."

Access to Justice: Opening up the Horizon of Public Interest Litigation (PIL)

In an appeal from the judgment of the High Court Division dismissing a writ by a local environmentalist group on ground of locus standi, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in its historic judgment dated 25 July 1996 granted standing to the ground .

In allowing the appeal, the judiciary interpreted the constitutional requirement of "aggrieved" in ways beyond the strict traditional concept. The appeal being allowed is a landmark decision in addressing the constitutional knot and riddle that have been prevailing on the threshold question as to who is an "aggrieved person" for last twenty four years history of our Constitution.

The decision opened up the horizon of PIL in Bangladesh and since then the judiciary has entertained a good number of cases on environmental grievances.

Right to Participation

On application from a local environmental group, the High Court Division (HCD) of the Supreme Court also intervened to judge on the legality of a development project called the Flood Action-Plan-20 . The petitioner accused the authorities of violating a number of laws that ensure people's participation in the decision making process, provide for compensating affected people for all sorts of loss and protecting the national heritage. The Court delivered judgment on 28 August 1997 and observed, "... in implementing the project the respondents (government) cannot with impunity violate the provisions of law". The Court directed the authorities to execute the work in compliance with the requirements of law that guarantee right to participation and compensations.

Suo motu Rule against Grabbing Land of Public Garden

The Court has been active in protecting the environment in specific class action, and it has also given rules, suo motu, questioning blatant violations of the state's obligations to protect and preserve the environment.

In one such case, the High Court Division (HCD) issued a suo moto rule when, in violation of an earlier order of the Court to maintain status quo, gunned hoodlums attempted to encroach upon 2.8 acres land of the only public garden of old Dhaka for construction of hotel therein.

Protecting River from Encroachment

On application from an environmentalist group seeking judicial intervention to protect the only river flowing through Dhaka from illegal encroachment, the HCD directed the concerned statutory authorities to submit before the Court an action plan setting out definite time frame and measures to be undertaken for removing the encroachers.

Following the petition, the government acted to remove the encroachers and the river now stands free from illegal occupation. Taking from the learning of this case, the government has constituted an inter-ministerial committee to remove illegal occupation from the other rivers of the country.

Checking Industrial Pollution

In a recent decision, the HCD gave directions to check indiscriminate pollution of air, water, soil and the environment by 903 industries belonging . These industries were identified polluters by the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives (LGRDC). The 14 sectors include Tanneries, Paper and Pulp, Sugar Mills, Distilleries, Iron and Steel, Fertilizer, Insecticide and Pesticide Industries, Chemical Industries, Cement, Pharmaceuticals, Textile, Rubber and Plastic, Tyre and Tube and Jute.

An official notification of the government directed the Department of Environment (DoE), the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and the Ministry of Industries to ensure within three years that appropriate pollution control measures were undertaken by the identified polluting industries. The Notification also required the said authorities to ensure that no new industry could be set up within pollution fighting devices. When no measure was taken even after the lapse of eight years, the above petition was filed.

After a lengthy hearing, the Court directed implementation of the directions given in the notification. To ensure implementation of the Court order, it was required from the respondents to report to the Court after six months by furnishing concerned affidavit showing compliance. The Court held it imperative on the part of the DG, DoE to take penal action against such department or persons responsible for not implementing the ECA, 1995.

Vehicular Pollution to be Reduced

The HCD, in a recent decision, gave a comprehensive judgment to fight vehicular pollution at different from. The six directives of the Court required the authorities to -

• Phase out all two-stroke vehicles from city streets of the Capital by December 2002

• Convert all petrol and diesel-fuelled government vehicles into Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered within six months

• Enforce the prohibition on use of pneumatic horns within 30 days

• Check fitness of vehicles using computerized system with immediate effect

• Follow international standard of fuel by reducing or eliminating toxic elements

• Set up adequate number of CNG filling stations within six months and ensure that all cars imported since July 2001 is fitted with catalytic converter.

This petition also has been kept pending for further monitoring.

The other pending cases on environment involves preservation up of lakes, flood flow zones and rivers, encroachment over rivers, violation of construction law, pollution from brick fields, environmental hazards of shrimp cultivation, destruction of hills, gas explosion without environmental impact assessment (EIA), compensation for environmental damages and so on.

Conclusion

The society in Bangladesh is responding to the global call for protection of environment. With the adoption of new sets of laws and rules, the legal regime as it stands today sounds more progressive and sensitive. With a demand to implement law, overcome the shortcomings and ensure adequate institutional and policy support, the civil society activism is developing vigorously. Such activism will support and foster changes in law and institutional attitude and the gradual rise in public awareness is expected to ensure responsible behaviour from all sectors. The judicial commitments to uphold constitutional values will continue to develop a proper environmental jurisprudence with due regard to human rights and dignity.

Bangladeshis have always demonstrated the spirit to fight back hazards and disasters. But in the changing scenario of global environment, there are factors that remain outside the control of any particular community or state and require activism on part of the global community. Sea level rise is one such phenomenon that has special pertinence to a low-lying delta like Bangladesh. The scientist apprehend that one meter rise in the sea level would displace 11% of the population and inundate 17.5% of the total land area of Bangladesh. While there is need to continue with the progress of legal and judicial activism at the national front, it is also of crucial importance that the global community would advance the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibility' to address challenges like this. Otherwise, all our achievement may be undermined for the ‘greed' of a few and at the cost of the deprived.

 Hon. Justice Mainur Reza Chowdhury
Chief Justice of Bangladeshhearing for setting such grievance.

 Under the original Act, cognizance of offence by the co