Zenadth Kes: the Impact of Climate Change on Children’s Rights

Zenadth Kes is a group of 200 Australian islands, of which about twenty are populated. The inhabitants of these islands are different groups and families of indigenous communities with their own distinct culture and identity.

Located between Australia and the island of Papua New Guinea, Zenadth Kes is a geographic enclave of very particular characteristics, among which the low elevation above sea level of its islands stands out. This topography makes the islands particularly exposed to sea level fluctuations caused by climate change, with disastrous consequences for the islanders. Some of these consequences are, for example, the loss of habitable spaces and places of worship, the contamination of freshwater sources, the loss of both animal and plant species, or the acidification of ocean water, among others. All these circumstances entail, in turn, both directly and indirectly, violations of fundamental human rights, to a greater or lesser extent. (Gisbert, 2022)

The environment on the islands has been degrading in recent years to such an extent that, if the necessary measures are not taken, they will become uninhabitable. The responsibility to protect, conserve and restore the habitats in this region lies with the Australian government, because the islands are part of its territory and the inhabitants are Australian citizens. Since necessary efforts, means, and attention have not been devoted, degradation and vulnerability have increased dramatically in Zenadth Kes.

Indeed, the lack of governmental investment, resources and support, together with the real impacts of climate change, have generated in recent years a situation of great vulnerability in the islands. This context of total lack of protection has given way to the violation of numerous fundamental rights of the islanders, and this is why in May 2019, a complaint was launched against the Australian government by a group of islanders and some of their children, before the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The lawyer who has taken the case with the islanders is Sophie Marjanac, of the Client Earth law firm. (Gisbert, 2021)

In this case, the complaint alleges the violation of the following rights of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966:

- The right to life (Art. 6).

- The right to privacy and family life (Art. 17).

- The right to culture (Art. 27).

The most vulnerable segments of the population in Zenadth Kes communities, as in many other regions of the planet, are the elderly and children. For these communities, the exercise of their culture and traditions is closely linked to the lands they inhabit, making it almost impossible to practice these elsewhere. That is the reason why it is so important to protect the islands.

In addition to the rights previously mentioned and included in the lawsuit, if we focus on children and young people, we can see how the impacts of climate change, together with the absence of government support, favor the violation of a long list of rights included in the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, among them the following:

- Intrinsic right to life, survival and development of the child (Art. 6).

- Right establishing the prohibition of unlawful deprivation of some or all of the elements of his or her identity (Art. 8).

- Right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development (Art. 27).

- Right of all children belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, or persons of indigenous origin, to their own cultural life, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language (Art. 30).

- Right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life; appropriate opportunities shall be provided on an equal footing to participate in cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure life (Art. 31).

As can be seen, not only are the fundamental rights of all members of the Zenadth Kes communities being violated, but also a whole series of children's and young people's rights, as they are being deprived of the ancestral spaces in which their families have lived for thousands of years. The reason why it is so important to guarantee each of the rights of these children and young people is because in them lies the opportunity to give continuity to their traditions, values and religious beliefs, as well as the obligation to care for and protect the islands they inhabit for future generations to come. Otherwise, their way of life will be lost.

The objective of the lawsuit has been, primarily, the recognition and confirmation that the impacts of climate change have become an issue that compromises the human rights of people around the world and, in parallel, to achieve financial support for containment and adaptation measures, as well as a commitment by the Australian government to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and the cessation of domestic electricity production from thermal coal. (Gisbert, 2021)

Throughout the lawsuit process, the Australian government argued that the impacts of climate change were a future issue and not a current one, which is completely incorrect. Furthermore, they argued that the responsibility for human contributions to climate change could not be placed on Australia individually, as it was not the only country involved in the emission of greenhouse gases. It should be noted that both the Prime Minister (Scott Morrison) and the Minister for Emissions Reduction (Angus Taylor) refused to go to the islands to check their status after being invited. One of the documents that played an important role in the deliberations was an independent report by David Boyd (current UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment) and John Knox (David Boyd's predecessor), in which they express their support to the islanders. (Gisbert, 2021)

After many months of deliberations and analysis of the different documents and arguments provided by each of the parties, on September 22, 2022, the case was resolved. The United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled in favor of the islanders, recognizing that there had been a violation of Articles 17 and 27 of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This has resulted in a unique and unprecedented decision, which brings hope for all those communities threatened by the impacts of climate change, especially because it opens the way for people to make claims when national systems fail to take the necessary measures to protect the most vulnerable populations, in relation to their human rights and the effects of climate change.

It is worth mentioning that one of the reasons why this decision is of utmost importance is because the financial support coming from the Australian government would allow the affected communities and, consequently, the children and youth, to have the opportunity to cope with the impacts of climate change, thus avoiding last resort measures such as migration. Internal and/or external displacement of islanders, as mentioned, would result in the impossibility of practicing their way of life, leading to the loss of their culture. This, in turn, would have a serious impact on the development of children and young people, who could experience a sense of loss of identity, conditioning their lives forever.

Alba GISBERT has a degree in Political Science and a master’s degree in International Cooperation. She is specializing in the fields of climate and environmental migrations, ecosystem-based adaptation and nature-based solutions, as well as in the defense of the rights of vulnerable populations, such as indigenous communities or refugees, and has special interest researching on Pacific and Arctic populations. She has field work experience and has worked for Spanish public institutions of international cooperation, such as FIIAPP and AECID. She is currently working in the EU funded program EUROCLIMA.

This article is part of the IOM Blog Series: Youth Voices on Migration, Environment and Climate Change

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