Ship‐Breaking in Developing Countries: A Requiem for Environmental Justice from the Perspective of Bangladesh by Md Saiful Karim Published by Routledge, 2018, 150 pp., £115, hardback.

• Published date: 01 April 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12276
• Author: Abul Hasanat
• Date: 01 April 2019

SHIP-BREAKING IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES:

A REQUIEM FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FROM

THE PERSPECTIVE OF BANGLADESH by Md Saiful

Karim

Published by Routledge, 2018, 150 pp., £115, hardback.

This is the latest book in the IMLI Studies in International Maritime

Law book series published by Routledge. In the book, Karim presents

an analytical discourse on environmental justice concerning ship-

breaking in Bangladesh. It draws upon two themes: the dispropor-

tionate burden of environmental risk and the lack of effectiveness of

the environmental regulatory regime. Regarding those industries, the

two issues ultimately arrive at the obvious conclusion of injustice at

the individual and global levels. The book, which is organized into six

chapters, explores the defects and discrepancies in the relevant

national and international instruments that have failed to develop a

just legal system for the shipbreaking business in Bangladesh.

In the introductory chapter, the author describes the current

scenario of shipbreaking operations that exact a huge human and

environment cost in the country. Initially, he points out that invest-

ors select Bangladesh for several reasons: leniency in environmental

enforcement; more care for the interests of investors than labour

rights; and widespread corruption. This chapter reminds the readers

of the International Labour Organization guidelines regarding the

health and safety of labourers in response to the frequent accidents

and inhuman treatment they face in shipbreaking yards. It also raises

concern for other occupational rights and privileges including their

wages, leave, medical care and freedom of association.

The issue of ‘environmental justice’is explained at the beginning

of the second chapter. Karim, quite relevantly, puts the concept of

environmental justice in the context of Amartya Sen's‘idea of justice’,

which suggests that an assessment of justice should take into account

‘nyaya’(realized justice) alongside the role of niti (laws and institu-

tions). He also suggests that a ‘realization‐focused perspective’does

not aspire to a perfect system, but rather one that prevents the

redressable injustices in the society.

1

Similarly, the author contends

that the clear and remediable violations of environmental rights of the

workers should be prevented to ensure justice in the shipbreaking

sector in Bangladesh. These workers are required to bear the main

burden of environmental risk associated with this activity, as they

have little choice or alternatives. To enable them to enjoy environ-

mental justice, there must be provision for some basic rights such as

equality, literacy, participation in policymaking and access to justice.

From a global perspective, Bangladesh also assumes a disproportion-

ate environmental burden in comparison to the developed countries

who send their obsolete ships to the country for scrapping or recy-

cling. Thus, as Karim argues, they do not dispose of these ships in

their own countries, rather they adopt a cost–benefit approach,

bypassing established international environmental law principles such

as those of prevention or ‘the polluter pays’. On the other hand, Ban-

gladesh receives ships in pursuit of its economic development, ignor-

ing concerns over the environmental ramifications and the safety of

labourers. Accordingly, reflecting the plight of its labourers, it too has

little choice or alternatives. The country, however, should not ignore

its legal duty to protect the life and safety of the workers as well as

other citizens.

The third chapter clarifies the role of international legal and

institutional arrangements in dealing with the operation of

shipbreaking. These legal instruments were not initially designed with

the issue of shipbreaking in mind, so they are of limiteduse in the sus-

tainable regulation of this industry. This chapter indicates that the

uncontrolled movementof hazardous wastes to developing countries is

a manifest violation of principles of international environmental law,

giving rise to gross injustice. In this situation, the relevant international

legal instruments neither directly address the environmental justice

aspects nor help in implementingexisting environmental principlessuch

as prevention and ‘thepolluter pays’. Moreover, due to a lack of prevail-

ing technical capacity,these provisions often cannot be used effectively

in developing countrieslike Bangladesh. In short, the international legal

system has failed to provide sufficient remedies for marginalizedStates

and their workers in bearing the disproportionate burden of environ-

mental risks and the violation of their basic human rights. The author

finds the system fundamentally flawed in managing the shipbreaking

and other hazardous industries in developing countries. He concludes

that developed nations treat the Global South as a repository for haz-

ardous wastes to internalize their environmental costs and have

designed the relevantinternational instruments accordingly.

The fourth chapter analyses the development of an international

legal order for ship recycling. It points out different arguments on

International Maritime Organization (IMO) jurisdiction related to

adopting a new agenda item for the safe and sustainable dismantling

of ships. It also provides a historical account of the adoption of the

2003 IMO Guidelines on Ship Recycling that –according to Karim –

are inconsistent with the principles of environmental justice and the

Basel Convention and, accordingly, hardly play a meaningful role in

ensuring a safe and sound shipbreaking industry.This situation has led

to the introduction of the Hong Kong Convention, which, however, is

not a comprehensive regime for the effective management of ship-

breaking functions. Theauthor reveals that the Hong Kong Convention

does not put in place hard requirements for the maintenance of stan-

dard shipbreaking facilities, precleaningof obsolete ships, downstream

management of their wastes, ‘safe for hot work and safe for entry cer-

tificates’and, above all, the observance of principles of sustainability,

justice and human rights. The convention supports the shift in burden

to the developing countries for ensuring the environmentally sound

recycling of obsolete ships. Though it incorporates the provisions of

technical assistance and cooperation for expediting this task, in prac-

tice, this has had little impact, as hasalso been the case for other IMO

conventions. European shipbreakingregulations similarly have failed to

address the environmental injustices suffered by the developing

nations and their workers.

DOI:10.1111/reel.12276

1

A Sen, The Idea of Justice (Allen Lane 2009) vii.

102

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