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Long-term Initiative For Equity and Environment known as LIFE It is an International Association of professionals interested in the proper management of earth resources. It seeks to achieve the following objectives: Promotion of the concept of sustainable development as a global perspective. Promotion of indigenous systems of resource management and land trusteeship, as a means of economic recovery for the new world. Promotion of the rule of law for achievement of justice and peace. Protection of the environment as a matter of human right all over the world.
Promotion of true independence of states in the new world by promoting self-
reliance. Activities of LIFE International Litigation as a vehicle of promoting the concept of sustainable development. Lobbying for the establishment of an International Court for Environment Lobbying for the enforcement of municipal laws, which are geared for the protection of the earth resources. Sustainable development LIFE reflects the current global trend for the social and economic recovery by sustainable means. It is the considered opinion of LIFE that the concepts of sustainable development and land trusteeship, in spite of modern terminology, have been practiced from time immemorial in various countries in the world very much before the concept was promoted as part of the current international jurisprudence. Please refer to the separate opinion of Judge Weeramantry, Vice President of the International Court of Justice in Gabilco/Nagimaros case popularly known as the Danube case. LIFE is gravely concerned with the need to reduce global warming and green house gases by resorting to and encouraging international development activities that utilize only sustainable developmental methods. In this respect it is hardly necessary to emphasize that LIFE is actively lobbying against the all forms of fossil based energy generation, which produces green house gases, hydro carbons and many other pollutants or particulate matter whether such pollutants or matters are or are not recognized by the WHO as active pollutants. LIFE is also active against electro magnetic radiation caused by various other modes of energy use, such as High Tension transmission lines, step up and down transformers used by electric utilities, which has so far remained in the domain of scientific priesthood. LIFE is profoundly of the view that the concept of sustainable development requires the world to adopt lighter modes of life on earth. Live lightly on earth LIFE is also of the strong opinion that most religions require devotees to adhere to and promote a lighter mode of life on earth. For further information on electro magnetic radiation read: The Electro magnetic radiation so far as it is in consequence of high-tension grids and electrical transmission systems, can be avoided if not eliminated by resorting to lesser voltage systems such as 12, 24 or 48 volt systems which have been proved all over the world. LIFE actively encourages and promotes energy generation by all renewable means which do not emit pollutants harmful to human, plant or animal health, such as hydro, Wind, Solar, permissible biomass, Geothermal, OTEC, tidal etc. For a detailed discussion on the (Heeeed Project of LIFE) Health, Energy, Employment, Environment, Education and Development in Sri Lanka, Click here. Page 11 LIFE deems it an imperative task of all governments over the world to gradually phase out internal combustion engines including vehicles fitted with such engines and coal or diesel fired power stations. In urban and semi urban areas in many countries in Asia and Latin America respiratory diseases, eye diseases, recurring viral flues, which have drug resistance, among the young and old, are very common. Unexplained cancers, dizziness, drowsiness, and vomiting while traveling are too common. Most of the vehicles on the road emit visible black or white smoke making it a loathsome and dangerous experience to walk along the roads. In Sri Lanka and India the main culprits among such polluting vehicles are Air-conditioned small 26-30 seater buses using one engine for both purposes, three wheelers and two wheelers fitted with two stroke engines, heavily laden lorries and trucks and omnibuses belonging to the state and private sector. Most of the vehicles owned by the government due to improper maintenance are quite harmful to the environment. The environmental laws new and old in Sri Lanka require the police and the Central Environmental to Authority to prosecute the wrongdoers. Due to the absence of an independent body entrusted with their appointments and disciplinary control you cannot expect these authorities to work independently. They are most of the time controlled and influenced by corrupt members of political parties who are either in power or seeking power at any cost. Click here for further information on how corrupt political parties abuse human rights see the article on: Abuse of Human rights by political parties. Pages 6-7 But the political will does not favour this step and the pollution goes on with state connivance. In this direction LIFE is totally committed to the total protection of the environment by enlightening the governments by various means of the need to: - Punish the wrong doers according to law. De-centralize such enforcement machinery through the existing local authorities and their legal framework. Promote electric vehicles (EV) or hybrid vehicles (HV) by removing tariff barriers. Electric Vehicles and Hybrid Vehicles They are very popular in many developed countries as they are benign to health and environment. While we admit that they do not possess the characteristics of a fully developed vehicle it should not be the policy of a government committed to sustainable development to wait until it is commercially developed elsewhere. Indian Government and private enterprise is a trendsetter in this regard and worthy of emulation. Unfortunately Sri Lankan government does not even seem to learn from India, its neighbour and big brother. Many private and public enterprises in India are now engaged in sustainable energy development including an Electric Car which we may legitimately call "pride of India". It is "REVA" . LIFE is indeed very proud of "REVA" and we recommend "REVA" to any one who needs a car for short distance driving. The government of Sri Lanka does not even know the rate of duty that should be levied if such a vehicle is to be imported to Sri Lanka. This lackadaisical approach may be a common dilemma in some developing countries while it quite malignant in some others. Such is the concern of the State on environment. LIFE is committed to reshaping the political will through mass participation and litigation, which can now be founded in respective countries in terms of the international obligations in terms of Rio and Kyoto conventions. LIFE is committed to form Electric vehicle clubs in Sri Lanka. Electric Vehicle clubs play a vital role in the shaping of destiny of those affected by high degree of air pollution in our cities. It can lobby for policies directed to EV use and act as a catalyst in changing the state policy in favor of EV use by punishing the polluter. Conversion of existing vehicles into electricity is one major functions of an EV club. Conversion of Vehicles into Battery Based EVs: For a fuller discussion of overall benefits of such conversion Please Click here.
Please
Contact the convener: [email protected]
We can send you the application forms and
the list of members currently interested in. Click for a profile of people behind LIFE Food Security and waste
control Refer to ; Lorna Wright This
is a subject that should occupy a central position in our professional
portfolios either as legal or medical practitioners or as forensic experts. Primarily
the global energy crisis is a positive threat to health and environment. The
attention of the foreign expert has so far not been adequately drawn to this
crisis. The resolution of this crisis situation should be accorded high priority
among our professional obligations. We all appear to be totally oblivious
of the large-scale degradation of the environment by electro magnetic radiation
and the resulting health risks. The environment in this context means the
natural and social environment. The pollution caused EMR (Electro magnetic
Radiation) may be classified into two broad categories for convenience. §
Out door pollution § Indoor pollution The polluting
agents in the former case may be: High tension electricity generators High
tension electricity transmission lines Grid substations Step up and
Step down transformers Utility power transmission lines Industries
using High voltage for power requirements Micro wave transmission for
telecommunication UHF and VHF transmissions The main polluting agents
in the indoor case: House hold appliances using 240 AC voltage Telecommunication
equipments using microwave. Computers and other high radiation equipments A
legal framework to deal with and control these polluting agent may only be
formulated after further and extensive research and dialogue on the following
areas: All kind of health risks resulting from electro magnetic radiation
such as immune deficiency problems. All kind of pollution caused to the
natural environment by electro magnetic radiation. The possibility of
replacing potentially dangerous 240 AC voltages with a lesser form of voltage. Centralized
power generation and power transmission. Utility scale independent power
generation. We should be sensitive to the following realities; The
entire cobweb of wires conducting high tension and low-tension electricity
crisscrossing the length and breadth of any country called the national grid is
a major polluting agent. The obvious health risks involved in centralized power
generation and distribution, High-tension transmission, and Grid substations
have remained in scientific priest hood and it will continue to remain so.
Should we professionals too remain silent? For the moment any legal action
is beyond our imagination as the actual obligations of power companies or the
governments have not been given statutory recognition. Then there will be a
dearth of experts in Forensic (Electro) medicine. Are we ready to
disseminate the currently available knowledge that science and technology have
developed to such heights as would enable all or most of our power requirement
to be satisfied with energy from the sun or wind or other sources of renewable
energy (1) It has been proved that Photovoltaic generation can now meet all
individual power requirements. This can promote truly independent life styles,
which would be good for physical and mental health. At the current rate of
energy generation and consumption the global warming is positively accelerated
to a level, which threatens the human existence on the planet earth. But there
is reluctance on the part of some professionals and higher authorities to admit
this truth. (2) Some countries have already started in a big way to get rid
of these polluting agents and to switch over to renewable and more benign
sources of power, mainly solar and wind. The writer invites all
professional men and women to participate in this dialogue and contribute to
find a solution to the impending global crisis of energy versus health and
environment. A comprehensive body of international law is required in order
to deal with the impending disaster caused by electro-magnetic pollution and the
global warming. The dilemma of socio-economic development has plagued this country for too long. It has defied all types of reforms structural adjustments and social mobilization programmes. It has also survived several constitutional reforms, modern economics and technology. All this is mainly due to the rule of party taking the place of rule of law. The legislative executive and the judicial power of the people are exercised by the Parliament. The members of Parliament are elected by the people at a general election where people are entitled to exercise the right of electing their representatives. Various political parties choose candidates who stand for elections. Those who contest the election are therefore primarily representatives of political parties. The hard reality is that they don’t cease to be representatives of the party even after election as a Member of Parliament. The representative democracy is practiced invariably though the party system. The inherent weakness in this system is its failure to allow the rule of law to take its due place. This happens due to various reasons such as;
Lack of minimum educational and other qualifications for selection within a
party. It is a sad reality that the political parties in the country have
not for the last half a century succeeded in introducing any foolproof systems
for the betterment of the country nor have they learnt anything special from
their counterparts in developed countries. This is unlikely to happen, as the
political parties are preoccupied with the task of perpetuating themselves in
power. This has reduced party politics in to petty politics. We must all be
aware of the peculiar third world situation where the very political parties who
are the custodians of democracy abuse all human rights. Unless we are awakening
to this realization the freedom under the law will soon be a thing of the past
irretrievable lost by inexcusable neglect. It should be the collective duty of
every one of us to guard against the possibility of extinction of democracy
through political parties themselves.
In view of the crucial
role played by the political parties all forms of human and fundamental right
abuses by them should fall into the category of violations by the administrative
and executive action of the government. They should therefore be amenable to the
fundamental rights jurisdiction of the courts in addition to their civil and
criminal liability. Criminal liability with regard to false promises The
people are presently not strong enough to go before a court of law on an
allegation of cheating against a political party. There is a justifiable degree
of diffidence for this failure. The lack of a dynamic vision of rule of law and
judicial activism both at bar and bench is well known. However it is somewhat
comforting to note the degree of judicial activism at the apex of our judiciary. This
has to be followed by others in the hierarchy. Sunil R. de Silva Attorney-at Law Delivered at S.L.F.I.
Auditorium at Colombo 07
This is just to mention a few of our maladies which move in a vicious circle each subject playing its dominant role. But surely the list is very long. There is a need to break from this cycle. The only way out is to start anywhere in the circle. Most, if not all, our development efforts have been extremely unsustainable and leading to earth hostile-practices and lifestyles. Therefore they have all been in vain. The time has come for all of us to come down to earth and be earth- friendly. The west and the industrialized countries have learned it the hard way. Should we do the same? We propose the following means:
Eradication of poverty through a solution to the energy crisis. Food and Energy sector development without depending much on water. This plays a pivotal role in any society, very much so in a developing one. It is therefore necessary to find solutions to this problem without sacrificing the need of the next generations. Thermal power generation by coal or other fossil fuel burning is being phased out gradually from the developed countries in view of the inherent danger to the environment. The base loads are mostly run on natural gas. Why are we introducing Coal power? Is it to be opposed on expert advice in about 10 more years hence? It is high time to oppose it now. They seem to go for such sources of power, as they either don't know the potential of renewable energy or due to corruption. Introduction of large-scale power generation schemes does not promote manpower utilization or benefit the environment in any way. On the contrary, renewable systems need the employment of more manpower and hence more benefits to public. Southern Province of Sri Lanka, and mainly the southern lowlands are full of such renewable resources as year round,
Food Industry Just as much as Sri Lanka knows no land use policy, so is the Food industry. Our agricultural produce is mainly for immediate human consumption and the excesses to be thrown away. Can you see the colossus waste of such stuff in the season, when some items of food are in ample supply. One need only go to an open market fair to witness this. The modern technology is available to dehydrate, or preserve such food for export or local market. Such technologies as are now employed here depend on grid connected electricity or fossil fuel burning engines etc. Solar and combined wind technologies are competitively available today as sustainable technologies which can be used for the Food processing industry. Various types of solar dryers are now available in the market today. We can even turn out our own systems too. It is so easy. Business development All these must be started as businesses and or process for development of business to improve the economy of the people living in an area where the only available resources are man power, sun, barren land, biomass and wind. In this respect we must appreciate what ITDG Sri Lanka has been doing. We must at the same time, feel ashamed of the government of Sri Lanka for total lack of sustainable development policy as the national policy. This will be sufficient for sustainable development. We propose development of following businesses in the southern area:
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