Centre for Environmental Justice

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.

Centre for Environmental Justice
පරිසර යුක්ති කේන්ද්‍රය
AbbreviationCEJ
Formation2004 (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

Cases

Illegal waste exports

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

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

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

References
  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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