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Justice Brian Preston, Chief Judge of Land and Environment Court at New South Wales, Australia today remarked that governments and the corporate actors need to be held to account for the adequacy of the climate action or inaction. The judge is one of the speakers the International Conference on Environmental Diversity and Environmental Jurisprudence, 2022 at Chandigarh University.

Justice Preston, while addressing on the topic of climate change, biodiversity and policy noted that climate litigation enables courts to hold government and corporations to account. Speaking on government accountability the judge remarked that the government of a polity needs to take the lead in settling and implementing the strategic policy and legal framework needed for effective climate action. Justice Preston called for the legislature to enact laws that require climate action.

Addressing the role of executive, he noted that it is the responsibility of the executive to ensure that these laws are implemented and executed in a manner consistent with climate action.
Justice Preston noted that the judiciary is responsible for holding legislature and executive accountable for implementation. He further added that it is the duty of the judiciary to hold legislature accountable if it fails to make legislations as required by law or makes legislations contrary to goals of climate action.

Justice Preston said that the legislature may fail to make delegated or subordinate legislation, however the court must hold that they have breached their duty in such cases. The judge cited the judgment of High Court of South Africa in Trustees of Time being and Ground Work Vs Minister of Environmental affairs where it was held that the Minister of has a legal duty to prescribe regulations to contain air pollution. The judgment held that minister did not perform his legal duty and hence the court directed him to pass regulations  to contain air pollution.

The session was inaugurated by Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu, he said “environmental regulations should not be strangulating but should act as guiding principles for the people”  Other dignitaries who attended the inaugural session included Supreme Court judges Justice Surya Kant, Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice Mohammad Rafiq, former Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal Justice Swatanter Kumar (Retd.), UN Resident Coordinator of India Mr. Shombi Sharp, Judge at National High Court of Brazil Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin and Governor of Punjab, Tamil Nadu & Administrator U.T., Chandigarh Banwarilal Purohit.

The two day conference is being organised to emphasize on understanding and analyzing the potentials and threats faced by bio-diversity and to attain environmental Justice through sound regulatory mechanisms.

This year's theme takes on the sustainable use of bio-diversity to assist Nation's growth while maintaining eco-system wellness and environmental Justice.

The conference also aims to sensitizing youth, professionals, social workers, community members, and people from all walks of life about Environmental Diversity and Environmental Jurisprudence as the need of the hour.