Right to life most basic principle of environmental justice: CJP

Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said that the Constitution of Pakistan does not articulate the issue of environmental protection and preservation in any of its provisions.
While addressing the inaugural session of a two-day "South Asia Conference on Environmental Justice" in Bhurban - Muree on Saturday he said that the superior courts of Pakistan have interpreted "Right to Life" in Article 9 of the Constitution, thus the right to life is the most basic principle of environmental justice.
The CJP added that the protection of environment, socio-economic development, safeguarding human rights and strengthening democratic institutions are the core values of every society. He said that no environmental plans could achieve their objectives without mobilising public opinion and a wake up call to the stakeholders.
"What is really required from the concerned authorities of Pakistan is to have an overview of environmental law from all the three perspectives, ie international, sub-regional and national", he maintained. He said that the South Asian region is highly vulnerable to extreme climate changes and hydro-meteorological disasters like flash floods, monsoon flooding, tropical cyclones and storm surges.
"Our future generations must not bear the cost of our exploitation and mismanagement of environmental issues; rather we have to mitigate the environmental damage for the survival of generations to come", he observed. The Chief Justice said that the objective of sustainable development could be achieved through consultation on national policies and sustained commitment on the part of Saarc countries.
He lauded the efforts of Asian Development Bank and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for work done on conserving the environment and highlighting environmental issues nationally and internationally. "The role of print and electronic media is also laudable, as much of the credit of the relief provided by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in suo motu actions goes to them", he said.
The Chief Justice said that the urbanisation, unplanned and ill-structured constructions, increased industrialisation, poor sewerage systems, illegal brick kilns and crusher machines on privately owned lands, deforestation, damage to wildlife and mountain ranges and particularly the lack of will towards improvement are some other factors obstructing the development of environmental law.
The conference to make environmental institutions administratively and judicially efficient and effective in Pakistan commenced from March 24. In its opening session Ms Marie-Anne Birken Deputy General Counsel, Asian Development Bank, Ms Irum Ahsan, Project Team leader office of General Counsel ADB shared the role of ADB in environmental governance, structure and theme of the conference with the participants. More than 100 participants attended the conference including local, international and regional lawyers, judges of the superior and district courts during the first two sessions of the conference.