Public Interest Environmental Litigation (PIEL) to Tackle Climate Change in Bangladesh: Growth, Challenges, and Future

The 1972 Constitution of Bangladesh lacked specific environmental rights, making their enforcement challenging within the Bangladeshi legal framework. In the 1990s, public interest environmental litigation (PIEL) emerged, driven by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers’ Association and Dr. Mohiuddin Farooque, to protect these rights. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh (SC-BD) expanded public interest litigation (PIL) by liberalizing the locus standi, allowing petitions on environmental damage, and linking it to the right to life under Article 32 of the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Fifteenth Amendment later introduced Article 18A, emphasizing environmental protection as a state policy principle, though not judicially enforceable. Consequently, the SC-BD continued using PIEL to address environmental and climate issues, creating innovative remedies to mitigate climate change effects. This chapter explores the development of environmental and climate litigation in Bangladesh through PIEL. It analyses SC-BD judgments, highlighting innovative remedies such as injunctive relief and granting rivers legal personhood. Despite specialized environment courts, the SC-BD remains a more effective forum. The chapter also discusses the challenges of climate litigation in the SC-BD and proposes strategies to enhance the efficacy of both the SC-BD and environment courts in combating climate change in Bangladesh.