Small Nations Have Been Crying Climate Change. The UN Is Finally Answering.

Some of the more desperate voices calling for help are small and faraway. They are heard in important-sounding places that nonetheless are powerless in their realities. They are the voices of countries that may not be countries much longer. They are the voices of places that may not be places much longer. From NPR:

Vanuatu is one of a group of small states pushing for international legal intervention in the climate crisis. “We live on the front lines of climate change impact. We are witnesses to the destruction of our lands, our livelihoods, our culture and our human rights,” Vanuatu’s climate change envoy Ralph Regenvanu told reporters ahead of the hearing. Any decision by the court would be non-binding advice and unable to directly force wealthy nations into action to help struggling countries. Yet it would be more than just a powerful symbol since it could serve as the basis for other legal actions, including domestic lawsuits.

... “For our generation and for the Pacific Islands, the climate crisis is an existential threat. It is a matter of survival, and the world’s biggest economies are not taking this crisis seriously. We need the ICJ to protect the rights of people at the front lines,” Vishal Prasad, of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, told reporters in a briefing. Fifteen judges from around the world will seek to answer two questions: What are countries obliged to do under international law to protect the climate and environment from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions? And what are the legal consequences for governments where their acts, or lack of action, have significantly harmed the climate and environment?

One can only imagine the lip-curled contempt with which the incoming administration will greet any action from an international court of any kind. After all, the basic resting pulse on the climate crisis in large nations has proven to be inadequate. And now the United States’ environmental policy is going to be in the hands of a cabal of grifters and vandals, most of whom do not recognize the existence of the crisis at all, and soon there will be places that are places no longer, their existence unrecognizable in the most literal way.

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