environmental justice

With over 200 cases of ecological conflicts and environmental injustice India tops a list of 11 countries in The Environmental Justice Atlas, an online interactive portal that maps exemplary cases of peoples’ resistance against climate change and environment degradation.

EJAtlas.org is conceived by the Environmental Justice, Liabilities and Trade (EJOLT) project and funded by the European Commission as a global research project operated during 2011–2015. It maps ecological conflicts, resistances and environmental injustices, mostly in the developing world.

The start of the first and specialised Environmental Court in Jalan Duta today is a beacon of hope for those who are working closely on or championing environmental issues.

Department of Environment (DoE) director-general Halimah Hassan described the formation as "very positive" and hoped more environmental cases would be heard and cleared at a faster rate.

"I hope the court will be able to create a greater deterrent for environmental criminals. This is because environmental crime is a serious matter. To assist the court, we will continue with our enforcement and operation," she said.

 As part of the preparatory process for the forthcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (dubbed Rio+20) to be held in Rio de Janeiro in mid-2012, over 600 organizations have made submissions for inclusion in the "compilation document" which will be used to draft the final "outcome document".  The second intersessional being held in New York, during December 2011, will review the compilation document and agree on the outline of the draft outcome document.