Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association vs. Bangladesh, WP No. 57 of 2010, D-/01-02-2012

Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) sought remedies against the government’s alleged failure to regulate shrimp farming. BELA submitted that 8,506.67 hectares of mangrove forest in the Sunderbans had been destroyed since the government allowed commercial shrimp farming. Consequently, shrimp cultivation occupied 217,000 hectares in the fiscal year 2006–2007. According to BELA, modern saline water shrimp cultivation resulted in agricultural land shrinkage, soil salinity increase, drinking water contamination and biodiversity decrease. The court agreed with the Indian Supreme Court’s approach in S. Jagannathan vs. Union of India, and mandated an Environmental Impact Assessment for shrimp farming, which must consider intergenerational equity. The court also banned the conversion of agricultural lands, salt pan lands, mangroves, wetlands, forestlands and village common land into shrimp farms. 

While the decision did not directly address climate change, it paves the way for protecting mangroves—a useful biological ally in the fight against climate change—by requiring strict environmental monitoring of shrimp farming.