Centre for Environmental Justice

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Centre for Environmental Justice
පරිසර යුක්ති කේන්ද්‍රය
AbbreviationCEJ
Formation2004; 20 years ago (2004)
TypeNon-governmental organisation
PurposeEnvironmental conservation
Environmental Justice
HeadquartersColombo
Location
  • Sri Lanka
MethodsAwareness, Advocacy, Legal Aid, Litigation
Key people
Hemantha Withanage, Ravindranath Dabare
Websiteejustice.lk

Centre for Environmental Justice is an environmental conservation and public interest litigation organisation in Sri Lanka.[1][2][3] The organisation is a member of the Friends of the Earth International network which is the world's largest international grassroots environmental network.

Cases[edit]

Illegal waste exports[edit]

In 2019, the Centre for Environmental Justice filed for legal action to repatriate waste containers illegally exported to Sri Lanka from the UK.[4][5] After a year-long case, the court ordered the illegal waste to be sent back to the UK.[6][7][8] An agency was set up thereafter to investigate illegal waste exports.[9]

Kallaru Forest Reserve case[edit]

The Centre for Environmental Justice filed a writ application in court against the illegal clearing of the Kallaru Forest Reserve,[10][11] adjacent to the Wilpattu National Park and the construction of a housing project. In the winning judgement,[12][13] the Court of Appeal in Sri Lanka for the first time exercised the 'polluter-pays-principle' under environmental law against the Minister responsible for the forest clearing, as opposed to administrative law remedies.[14][15]

As a result, the cleared area was set to be reforested[16][17] and is currently being replanted as per the judgement.[18]

Projects[edit]

In 2020, the Centre for Environmental Justice launched an app named "eJustice" where citizens can anonymously report environmental crimes in relation to forests and wetlands.[19]

Advocacy includes calling on single-use plastic ban[20][21][22] and protection of forests.[23][24][25]

The organisation litigates for environmental justice.[26][27][28][29]

The organisation conducts campaigns and programmes[30] to address water sanitation issues, climate change impacts, waste management,[31] environmental legal aid, right to environmental information, sustainable energy,[32] food sovereignty, economic justice,[33] forest governance,[34] wetland protection,[35] toxic chemicals, human and wildlife conflict,[36] environmental research, environmental awareness[37] and Environmental Impact Assessment training.[38][39]

The organisation initiated a petition with other environmental groups to call for an end to the ongoing ecocide in Sri Lanka.[40][41][42][43]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The Centre for Environmental Justice seeking legal action regarding the beach nourishment project". Hiru News. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  2. ^ "Hemantha Withanage and Ravindranath Dabare -Centre for Environmental Justice". Daily News. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  3. ^ "Environmentalist Centre for Environmental Justice -Hemantha Vithanage". Retrieved 2021-01-25 – via PressReader.
  4. ^ Eco-Business. "Sri Lanka returns first batch of imported waste from the UK". Eco-Business. Retrieved 2021-01-25. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ "Garbage containers at port and FTZ: Stench continues". www.themorning.lk. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  6. ^ "Sri Lanka is Sending Hazardous Waste Back to the UK After a Two-Year Battle". Earth.Org - Past | Present | Future. 2020-11-04. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  7. ^ "Sri Lanka returns illegal waste to Britain after court order". phys.org. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  8. ^ "Sri Lanka Court Orders Illegal Waste Back to UK | IPEN". ipen.org. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  9. ^ "Agency to investigate 'illegal exports' to Sri Lanka". letsrecycle.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  10. ^ "විල්පත්තුව: තීන්දුව දීම විනිසුරු ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කරයි". BBC News සිංහල (in Sinhala). Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  11. ^ Sooriyagoda, Lakmal. "No clearing, construction till case is over, Forest Dept. assures court". Daily News. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  12. ^ "රටටම පාඩමක් ඉගැන්වූ රිෂාඩ්ගේ නඩු තීන්දුව". www.deshaya.lk. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  13. ^ "CEJ wins Wilpattu judgment". Voices from FoE Asia Pacific. 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  14. ^ "Rishad ordered to reforest Kallaru reserve at his own expense". www.adaderana.lk. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  15. ^ "Clearing Kallaru in Wilpattu is illegal; COA rules against Bathiudeen". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 2020-11-16. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  16. ^ Nadeera, Dilshan. "Forest Department draws up plan for replanting destroyed Kallaru forest". Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  17. ^ "Victory for Sri Lankan Forests". Interfaith Earthkeepers. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  18. ^ "Sri Lanka replanting bid begins after minister is held liable for deforestation". Mongabay Environmental News. 2021-02-28. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  19. ^ "For Sri Lankans reporting environmental crimes, there's now an app for that". Mongabay Environmental News. 2020-05-25. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  20. ^ AsiaNews.it. "Environmentalist calls for the elimination and recycling of plastics to reduce pollution". www.asianews.it. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  21. ^ "Why Sri Lanka Should Ban Single Use Plastics?". Voices from FoE Asia Pacific. 2019-03-12. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  22. ^ "Move to ban Single Use Plastic in Sri Lanka". Break Free From Plastic. 2020-09-21. Archived from the original on 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  23. ^ "CEJ requests for RTI from Customs and CEA". CeylonToday. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  24. ^ "CEJ sends letters of demand". CeylonToday. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  25. ^ "Wildlife & Environmental Issues in Sri Lanka". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  26. ^ Weerasooriya, Sahan. "CEJ challenges through writ petition illegal landfills and dumping of waste in Muthurajawela wetlands". Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  27. ^ "Stop vandalizing Muthurajawela Centre for Environmental Justice petitions the Court of Appeal". Counterpoint. 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  28. ^ Sooriyagoda, Lakmal. "Writ petition filed challenging filling of lands within Muthurajawela Sanctuary". Daily News. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  29. ^ "Writ petition against illegal constructions in Muthurajawela wetland". Hiru News. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  30. ^ tharindu. "වනාන්තර රැකගන්න පරිසර යුක්ති කේන්ද්‍රය ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයට". sinhala.srilankamirror.com. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  31. ^ "කැළි කසළ එකතු කිරීම හා ප්‍රතිචක්‍රිකරණය අඩපණයි - පරිසර යුක්ති කේන්ද්‍රය". www.ada.lk (in Sinhala). Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  32. ^ ""අළුතින් හදුන්වා දී තිබෙන ප්‍රවාහන බලපත්‍ර ක්‍රමය; පස් සහ වැලි මාෆියාවට උඩගෙඩි දීමකි." පරිසර යුක්ති කේන්ද්‍රය. - Headline News Featured". Headline News. 2020-06-06. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  33. ^ "කොළඹ වරාය නගර ව්‍යාපෘතියට එරෙහිව ගොනුකර තිබූ පෙත්සම නිෂ්ප්‍රභ කෙරේ". sinhala.adaderana.lk. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  34. ^ "විල්පත්තු නඩුව මුලසිට යළි විභාග කිරීමේ තීරණයක්". දිනමිණ. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  35. ^ "උමාඔය පෙත්සම - සැප්තැම්බරයේ යළි සළකා බැලේ". දිනමිණ. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  36. ^ "පරිසර යුක්ති කේන්ද්‍රය ගොනු කළ පෙත්සම සලකා බැලීම 15දා". www.lankadeepa.lk (in Sinhala). Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  37. ^ "More questions than answers as guns, enclosure and relocation of animals touted to protect crops". Print Edition - The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  38. ^ "Towards Conservation of Waterbodies". www.cseindia.org. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  39. ^ "Lanka second most affected country by climate change". Eleven Media Group Co., Ltd. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  40. ^ "Putting an end to Sri Lankan ecocide". www.themorning.lk. Archived from the original on 2021-03-18. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  41. ^ "Stop destroying forests: 25 environmental organisations to petition President". CeylonToday. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  42. ^ "Centre for Environmental Justice requests President to protect Dahaiyagala Elephant Pass in Udawalawe". NewsWire. 2021-01-29. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  43. ^ "Concerned Environmentalists Appeal to President". CeylonToday. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
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