Isramart : Jurists call for concerted efforts to reduce carbon emissions

Isramart news:
Eminent jurists from across the world, led by the Chief Justice of Singapore, Chan Seek Keong, have called for concerted efforts from both the developed and developing countries to reduce carbon emissions as per the Copenhagen summit on climate change.

Expressing serious concern at the ecological and environmental degradation caused by high carbon emissions, they suggested that countries have a common outlook and legal framework for implementing the Copenhagen Accord, though there was no complete agreement at the summit.

The International conference on Sea, Global Warming and Rule of Law, organised by the International Council of Jurists in association with the Law Society of Singapore, is being held on the vessel, Super Star Virgo, sailing from Singapore to Penang in Malaysia and Phuket in Thailand, and back to Singapore.

The speakers said the climate change had brought about uncertainties in time, magnitude and regional patterns, and global warming was posing a serious threat to bio-diversity. Justice Keong, who inaugurated the conference on Sunday, explained the steps taken by the Singapore government for reducing carbon emissions. Gas-based power generation had reduced carbon emissions to a considerable level, and the government was trying other means to effect further reductions, he said.

Justice P. Sathasivam of the Supreme Court of India said scientific experts had warned that “if human activity continues at its present rate, the average global temperature on Earth could rise by up to 7 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era. The danger has been recognised but not overcome. It is no exaggeration to say that humanity is currently tottering on the brink of a climate catastrophe.”

He said the Copenhagen summit did not result in any legally binding corollary to the Kyoto Protocol, though there was massive expectation for that to happen. He said climate change posed an immediate and far-reaching threat to the people and communities around the world and had implications for the full enjoyment of human rights.

He was of the view that using energy more efficiently, replacing fossil fuels with renewable energies and changing our lifestyles were keys to solving the problem.

He explained the initiatives taken by the Supreme Court of India to preserve and protect the environment through its various orders as well as by its Forest Bench to preserve the forest wealth and the flora and fauna.