CJI Khehar blames developed nations for unwillingness to tackle environmental pollution

Chief Justice of India Justice J S Khehar on Saturday blamed the developed nations of the world for their unwillingness to offer financial and technological help to tackle environmental pollution.

"Significantly, not only the emission history of developed world forgotten in terms of compensation for poisoning the environment problems. But also the colonial history of the use of natural resources for the benefit of developed world leaving behind a deeply wounded socio-economic system of inequality of opportunity.

"It makes the task of achieving sustainable development goals through the resource demanding cleaner paths of development much more difficult. In spite of this augmented statistical history, the developed countries even with their legal systems are unwilling to come forward to offer financial and technological help for a clean development," he said.

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Coming down hard on the developed countries for their unwillingness to perform their part of obligation, the CJI said that the developed countries with a small percentage of global population control higher levels of processing technologies and thereby keep on producing more toxic waste.

"Developing nations with largest populations are at risk and they have to continue to accept accelerated degeneration and degradation, he said at 'World Conference on Environment-2017' organised by the National Green Tribunal.

Justice Khehar said former US President George Bush had refused to ratify the Kyoto protocol and it remained to be seen as to whether US President Donald Trump will carry out the obligations envisaged under the Paris agreement.

"Just a few days ago, on March 16 Donald Trump's budget was unveiled which included cuts of 30 per cent to the state department and the environment protection agencies," he said. 

Dwelling further, the CJI said developed countries have created the problem of "greenhouse gases historically for centuries" resulting in global warming and yet they think that it is their "sovereign right to continue" with the emissions.

They also think that it is their "sovereign unwillingness to perform their obligations under the UN framework for climate change," he said.