From the collection in class to the UN General Assembly.This is how Fijian students “invented” the historic resolution on climate justice

The story of the battle that brought the project to make the states of the world responsible for their inaction to the United Nations

“We are not to blame, yet we have to deal with devastating cyclones, floods, loss of biodiversity and rising sea levels,” he declared yesterday Cynthia Houniuhi after the historical one resolution of the UN on the climate responsibility of states.Cynthia is one of the 27 students who form the Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (Pisfcc), the student association that in 2019, during a university law lesson in Fiji, set in motion the machine that yesterday led to the decision of United Nations General Assembly.The group tried various avenues before appealing to the International Court of Justice.«To be honest, at first I was quite hesitant about the idea.Let's face it, I just wanted to give up.Calling it an ambitious plan is an understatement.How could a handful of students from the Pacific have convinced the majority of UN members of the validity of their initiative?", reflects the activist quoted by Guardian.

The route

The students spoke with the teachers and started a collection to raise the 80 euros needed to create their first banner.Support grew rapidly.Soon 18 Pacific nations joined the cause.At that point, the students turned to the Vanuatu government, which then helped the group find majority support in the Assembly.“The diplomatic effort was enormous,” he said I hear Tevi, Vanuatu's permanent ambassador to the United Nations.Now Cynthia studies Environmental Law in Sydney, and while the International Court of Justice tries to understand whether according to international law countries can be held legally responsible for their emissions, especially when they do not comply with climate change.Even if not binding.

Success

If criteria were to be established, countries could end up in court to answer for their actions.This is a historic victory for the Pacific nations, which despite having contributed very little to global warming, are among the territories that are suffering its consequences the most.The images coming from Vanuatu are emblematic, where parts of the island's cemetery have already ended up under water due to rising sea levels.It took more than three years, it took the boat protests during Climate Week 2022, but this in the Pacific islands they are sure of.This is a big step towards climate justice.«The support has been exceptional», he declared Cynthia.