"The minister had an unusual request he wanted Aguon to help develop a legal case on behalf of dozens of law students who were seeking climate justice from the world's highest court. Aguon, a Chamorro lawyer based in Guam, was excited by the opportunity and believed they could clear up legal ambiguities he says had long hobbled the ability of the international community to respond effectively to the climate crisis."
"On 2 December, Aguon and the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC) will be honoured with a Right Livelihood award an international prize sometimes dubbed the alternative Nobel for their work. A Myanmar activist group, a grassroots aid response group in Sudan and Taiwanese civic hacker and technologist Audrey Tang will also be honoured. The Right Livelihood awards began in 1980 after the Nobel foundation rejected a proposal for two new prizes for work on the environment and within developing countries."
Julian Aguon, a Chamorro human rights lawyer based in Guam, developed a legal case for dozens of Pacific law students after a request from Vanuatu's foreign affairs minister. Aguon and his team collected testimonies across the Pacific detailing cultural and environmental losses caused by climate change, including sacred knowledge shared in breach of protocol. In 2025 Aguon argued the case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Months later the ICJ issued a landmark ruling determining that nations have a legal obligation to prevent climate harm. Aguon and PISFCC will receive a Right Livelihood award on 2 December alongside other activists.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]