Islanders to lodge landmark climate complaint

A GROUP of indigenous people was due to file an unprecedented legal complaint against Australia late yesterday, lawyers involved in the action said, accusing the government of breaching their human rights by falling short on its Paris climate accord pledges.

Eight residents of the Torres Strait Islands, 270 low-lying islands between Australia and Papua New Guinea, are set to lodge a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva, Switzerland.

“These are some of the most climate-vulnerable villages and islands in the world,” said Sophie Marjanac, one of nine lawyers involved in the case. “They’re very exposed.”

“The science is really stark for these communities about what the future holds – they need serious assistance to adapt and to remain on their islands because they’re already experiencing regular inundations,” she added.

Australia – one of the world’s largest carbon emitters per capita because of its reliance on coal-fired power plants – is among 185 countries that have ratified the Paris Agreement to tackle global warming.

Under the pact, Canberra has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030. But last year, the government stripped requirements for cutting emissions from its centrepiece energy policy in the face of political opposition.

In January, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned that Australia needed to cut carbon emissions more sharply to meet its Paris accord target.

The Torres Strait Islands are off the northern tip of Queensland, with about 18 of them inhabited by 7000 people who rely heavily on fishing.

The UN complaint, which lawyers said could take up to three years to be ruled on, would be the first climate change litigation brought against the Australian federal government based on human rights, said environmental campaign group ClientEarth, which is involved in the action.

It would also be the first legal action worldwide brought by inhabitants of low-lying islands against a nation state, the group said.

The complaint argues that Australia lacks adequate policies to cut its emissions, contributing to rising sea levels already threatening homes and damaging burial grounds and sacred cultural sites on the islands.

The Australian government has also failed to fund adequate coastal defences like sea walls, the complaint said. “Australia has done very little on climate change since signing the Paris agreement,” lead lawyer Marjanac said, adding the government should increase its targets and phase out support for thermal coal.

“I don’t think Australians realise their fellow Australians are on the climate front line – they see it as an overseas problem, but it’s happening in their backyard.”

A spokesperson for Australian Environment Minister Melissa Price said the government was committed to addressing climate change by meeting its international targets, investing in renewable energy technology, and protecting the environment.

“We’ve investing A$3 million (R30m),” he said. |