'Our voices were crucial in persuading UN states to back legal obligations to act on climate change. Here’s how we did it' – Cynthia Houniuhi | littlemere_solo
On 29 March, I stayed up until 1 a.m., for good reason. From Sydney, Australia, where I am studying law, I watched live coverage of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. More than 130 nations co-sponsored a resolution to put a case before the International Court of Justice on countries’ legal obligations to combat climate change. For the first time, the world’s highest court will rule on legal consequences for nations that are damaging the climate “by their acts and omissions”.
Our journey began in a classroom in Vanuatu at the University of the South Pacific School of Law and Social Science: 27 law students from eight Pacific Island countries banded together when our professor challenged us to research the most progressive legal pathways to address climate change and to propose one at the 2019 Pacific Island Leaders Forum Meeting in Tuvalu. We chose to agitate for an ICJ ruling because it was the most ambitious action on our list.
As a child, I was surrounded by nature, and my people relied on the environment to sustain us. I learnt how to fish, which plants are edible and our cultural dances that tell stories of people interacting harmoniously with the environment. I understood the value of the land and ocean to my people, and the value that people can bring to the land.
What finally pushed me into advocacy work was witnessing the loss of land to rising sea levels in Fanalei, a 2-kilometre wide island of the Solomon Islands. It was home to about 500 people, including some of my family. When I travelled back to the island during holidays, I loved seeing smiling and laughing kids playing football on the beach. It is a beautiful memory. Yet this image is fading as that island disappears before my eyes.
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