Environmental Lawyer
Use the law to protect Sri Lanka's environment and natural resources — advising on environmental impact assessments; enforcing pollution control; litigating against environmentally harmful projects; and shaping climate and biodiversity policy — in a career at the cutting edge of law; science; and sustainability.
Environmental law is the body of domestic and international law governing the relationship between human activity and the natural environment — the laws that regulate pollution; protect biodiversity; control land use; govern environmental impact assessment; manage natural resources (forests; water; fisheries; minerals); and address the most significant contemporary challenge of climate change. In Sri Lanka; environmental law is a developing but increasingly important field — driven by Sri Lanka's extraordinary natural endowment (the island is one of the world's biodiversity hotspots; with two of the world's 35 recognised biodiversity hotspots including the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka hotspot; and the Central Highlands which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site); by Sri Lanka's acute vulnerability to climate change (flooding; drought; sea-level rise; coral bleaching; changes in monsoon patterns are all documented impacts); and by the growing conflict between economic development (the road; highway; port; and industrial development programmes) and environmental protection. Sri Lanka's primary environmental law framework includes: the National Environmental Act No. 47 of 1980 (and its amendments — No. 56 of 1988; No. 53 of 2000; No. 46 of 2000 — the foundational environmental legislation; establishing the Central Environmental Authority — CEA — as the primary regulatory body; providing for the Environmental Impact Assessment — EIA — process; establishing environmental standards; and creating environmental offences); the Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Act No. 57 of 1981 (as amended by Act No. 49 of 2011 — governing coastal zone management; the Coastal Conservation Department — CCD; the EIA requirements for coastal zone activities); the Forest Ordinance No. 16 of 1907 (as amended — the primary forest protection law; the Forest Department); the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance No. 2 of 1937 (as amended to 2009 — the wildlife and biodiversity protection law; the Department of Wildlife Conservation; protected areas; the prohibition on trade in protected species); the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act No. 2 of 1996 (the fisheries law; the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources); the Mines and Minerals Act No. 33 of 1992 (as amended — the mining law; the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau); the Land Acquisition Act No. 9 of 1950 (used extensively for development projects displacing communities; the intersection with environmental rights); the Water Resources Board Act; and the Municipal Councils Ordinance (urban environmental management). The EIA process — established under the National Environmental Act and the EIA Regulations (Gazette Extraordinary No. 772/22 of 24 June 1993; as amended) — is the primary mechanism for integrating environmental considerations into development decision-making in Sri Lanka. The EIA requirement applies to specified prescribed projects (the Schedule 1 list includes: all projects involving significant land disturbance; all coastal zone projects; all mining operations; all significant industry installations; all major infrastructure — roads; highways; ports; airports; power stations) and requires the proponent to prepare an EIA or an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) that is then reviewed and approved by the relevant Project Approving Agency (PAA — typically the CEA; the CCD; the Forest Department; or the relevant line ministry) before a development permit can be issued. The EIA process is the primary site of environmental law litigation in Sri Lanka — challenges to inadequate EIAs; to permits granted without required EIA review; and to the circumvention of the EIA process for politically-motivated projects are the most common forms of environmental public interest litigation. Sri Lanka's environmental public interest litigation is heard primarily in the Supreme Court (Article 126 fundamental rights applications where environmental harm constitutes a violation of the right to life; health; or equality) and the Court of Appeal (writ applications challenging the lawfulness of permits and licences). The environmental NGO sector — the Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL); the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ); the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS); the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (FOGSL) — is an important part of the environmental law ecosystem; frequently filing litigation; conducting advocacy; and commissioning legal opinions on environmental issues.
What a Environmental Lawyer does daily
- Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) legal review and advice — reviewing the legal sufficiency and procedural compliance of Environmental Impact Assessments prepared for development projects; advising developers on what the EIA process requires; advising government agencies on whether submitted EIAs are legally adequate; advising NGOs and communities on whether EIAs have been properly conducted; the EIA legal advisory function is the primary commercial work of private environmental lawyers in Sri Lanka and the primary regulatory function of CEA and project approving agency lawyers
- Environmental public interest litigation — bringing or defending legal challenges to environmentally harmful projects or decisions in the Supreme Court (Article 126 fundamental rights applications) or the Court of Appeal (writ applications); the public interest litigation function is the primary tool for NGOs; affected communities; and civil society to challenge development projects that threaten the environment; iconic Sri Lanka environmental PIL cases include challenges to the Colombo Port City project; the Hambantota Port environmental impacts; the destruction of mangroves; and the Mahaweli diversion scheme's biodiversity impacts
- Environmental compliance advisory — advising private sector clients (developers; industrial companies; hotel developers; plantation companies) on their environmental compliance obligations: the permits and licences required for their operations (the Trade Effluent Permit; the Air Emission Permit; the Hazardous Waste licence; the Coastal Permit; the Forest Department felling permit; the Mines and Minerals Bureau mining licence); the conditions attached to these permits; the consequences of non-compliance; the environmental compliance advisory function is the primary commercial dimension of private environmental law practice
- Environmental regulatory enforcement — advising or representing the CEA; CCD; Forest Department; Department of Wildlife Conservation; or local authorities in environmental enforcement actions: notices; improvement orders; prosecutions for environmental offences under the National Environmental Act; the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance; the Fisheries Act; the enforcement function is the government-side environmental law work
- Climate change law and policy advisory — advising government ministries (the Ministry of Environment; the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment) on Sri Lanka's obligations under the Paris Agreement; the UNFCCC; and domestic climate legislation; advising on the NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) implementation framework; advising on climate finance (the Green Climate Fund; REDD+; blue carbon); the international climate law dimension is a growing area for Sri Lanka environmental lawyers with international exposure
- Land acquisition and displacement legal advisory — advising communities displaced by development projects about their rights under the Land Acquisition Act; challenging inadequate compensation; ensuring procedural compliance with the land acquisition process; the interface between environmental harm; land rights; and community displacement is one of the most contested areas of Sri Lanka's environmental law practice
- Biodiversity and wildlife law — advising on the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance; protected species law; wildlife trade prohibition; protected area management; the wildlife tourism legal framework; representing parties in illegal wildlife trade prosecutions; advising on CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) compliance in Sri Lanka
- Coastal zone management law — advising on the Coast Conservation Act; the coastal zone permit requirements; the prohibition on development in the coastal conservation zone; the challenge of coastal resort development and its environmental impacts; the coastal zone management law is particularly important in Sri Lanka given its 1,340 km coastline and the pressure of tourism and coastal development
- Ocean and fisheries law — advising on the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act; the EEZ fishing rights; the management of marine protected areas; the Environmental Foundation Limited's ocean conservation work; the intersection of UNCLOS and Sri Lanka's domestic fisheries law
- Environmental law NGO advisory and advocacy — providing pro bono legal support to environmental NGOs (EFL; CEJ; WNPS) for their advocacy; litigation; and public education work; the NGO environmental law advisory function is an important dimension of Sri Lanka's environmental legal ecosystem
Step-by-Step Career Roadmap
- Science and biology foundation — the scientific knowledge base that enables the environmental lawyer to understand EIA reports; pollution data; and biodiversity surveys
- Environmental awareness — visiting national parks; understanding Sri Lanka's biodiversity; the concept of protected areas; the threats to Sri Lanka's environment
- English language — environmental law is conducted primarily in English (the courts; the EIA reports; the international law framework)
- Civic and rights awareness — the concept of environmental rights; the right to a healthy environment as a human right; the connection between environmental protection and human welfare
- National park and nature reserve visits
- Science and biology excellence
- Environmental news reading
- Wildlife and nature society participation (WNPS; school nature club)
- Geography and ecology awareness
- Environmental law requires genuine scientific literacy — not just legal knowledge; those who want to be effective environmental lawyers need to invest in understanding environmental science (ecology; hydrology; pollution; climate) alongside their legal training; those who treat the science as irrelevant will produce weaker legal arguments than those who engage seriously with it