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Global warming is a threat to the rule of law, say critics
Climate change is a threat to the rule of law, and the Bar Association of India (BAI) may take on the government over the issue, its general secretary Lalit Bhasin said here on Thursday.
- IANS
- Published: 00:30 May 2, 2008
New Delhi: Climate change is a threat to the rule of law, and the Bar Association of India (BAI) may take on the government over the issue, its general secretary Lalit Bhasin said here on Thursday.
On the eve of a two-day national conference on Climate Change and the Role of Law being organised here by BAI, Bhasin said: "The rule of law is being threatened by the catastrophic changes" being caused by global warming.
Brainstorming session
"As the sea level rises gldue (to obal warming), there will be a mass exodus from the coastal regions. That will affect peace and security on a global basis."
The conference, to be attended by at least 220 BAI representatives from around the country, would essentially be a "brainstorming session on the implications of climate change, not only to India but to the globe as a whole, because climate change has no boundaries", Bhasin said.
The BAI appealed to the international community to enforce "certain basic principles that are mandatory for all countries".
The Indian government has opposed mandatory caps on carbon dioxide emissions by developing countries. Bhasin shrugged when this was pointed out to him.
Asked if BAI would take the government to court on this, he replied: "We do it all the time."
India has over 200 laws meant to safeguard the environment, "but they need strict implementation", Bhasin said.
R.K.P. Shankardass, former president of the International Bar Association and now one of the BAI vice presidents, said: "The entire issue of climate change is still being approached on a government-to-government basis, where there are understandable differences over emission rights. We cannot really reach agreement like this."
"We have to see what we're doing in India, because if climate change is not addressed those very poor people whose lives we're trying to improve will be the worst affected."
Shankardass said climate change was a violation of peoples' fundamental rights. "If we take away their land, their ability to earn a livelihood, how are they to live?"
As the sea level rises [due to global warming], there will be mass exodus from the coastal regions. That will affect peace and security on a global basis."
Lalit Bhasin
BAI General Secretary
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