2010 was a loud year for the environment. High profile projects—from Vedanta to Posco and Navi Mumbai airport to Lavasa—hit the headlines for non-compliance with environmental regulations.
Why did you choose public interest litigation (PIL) as a strategy for environmental activism?
When we started Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), the country had just emerged from a long period of martial law. People were distanced from the administration. We wanted to activate the administration and law-makers through judicial pressure. This was not easy because of the general erosion of values of all institutions.
Last fortnight we discussed the clandestine endgame afoot at Cancun to change the framework of the climate change negotiations to suit big and powerful polluters.
As I write this, some 24 hours are left to finalise the agreement at the 16th Conference of Parties to the climate change convention being held in Cancun.
