International legal avenues to address the plight of victims of climate change: Problems and prospects

Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation

Volumn 22, Issue 2, 2007, Pages 267-299

  Koivurova, Timo ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LAPLAND   (Finland)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CLIMATE CHANGE; EMISSION CONTROL; ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE; ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION; ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY; GREENHOUSE GAS; INTERNATIONAL LAW;

EID: 39049098502     PISSN: 10490280     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (251)

1. See INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, CLIMATE CHANGE 2007: IMPACTS, ADAPTATION AND VULNERABILITY, SUMMARY FOR POLICYMAKERS 12 (2007), available at http://www.ipcc.ch/ ipccreports/ar4-wg2.htm.
2. See INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, CLIMATE CHANGE 2007: THE PHYSICAL SCIENCE BASIS 2 (2007), available at http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-wg1.htm.
3. Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, U.N. Doc. FCCC/CP/1997/7/Add.1, 3, Dec. 11, 1997, 37 I.L.M. 22 (1998), available at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/ kpeng.pdf [hereinafter Kyoto Protocol].
4. See Five Years After Rio: What was the Earth Summit?, http;// www.iisd.org/rio+5/earthsummit.htm (last visited Nov. 1, 2007) (providing information on the Rio Conference and links to related documents).
5. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Status of Ratification, http://unfccc.int/essential_background/convention/ status_of_ratification/items/2631.php (last visited Oct. 14, 2007).
6. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, http://unfccc.int/ essential_background/convention/items/2627.php (last visited Oct. 14, 2007).
7. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol, http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php (last visited Oct. 14, 2007).
8. Kyoto Protocol, supra note 3.
9. FARHANA YAMIN & JOANNA DEPLEDGE, THE INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE REGIME: A GUIDE TO RULES, INSTITUTIONS AND PROCEDURES 15 (2005).
10. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Status of Ratification, http://unfccc.int/kyoto∥otocol/background/ status_of_ratification/items/2613.php (last visited Oct. 26, 2007);
11. Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Q & A: Russia and the Kyoto Protocol, http://www.pewclimate.org/what_s_being_done/in_the_world/ russia_kyoto_q_a.cfm (last visited Oct. 26, 2007).
12. Sarah A. Peay, Joining the Asia-Pacific Partnership: The Environmentally Sound Decision?, 18 COLO. J. INT'L ENVTL. L. & POL'Y 477, 481 (2007).
13. Id. at 480-81.
14. BBC NEWS, Climate Change: The Big Emitters, July 4, 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3143798.stm.
15. See infra notes 37-41 and accompanying text.
16. BBC NEWS, Tiny Pacific Nation Takes on Australia, Mar. 4, 2002, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/asia-pacific/1854118.stm. No more detailed information is available on the subject, and Tuvalu has not specified its plan as to how and when it will file its petition with the ICJ.
17. Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Seeking Relief from Violations Resulting from Global Warming Caused by Acts and Omissions of the United States, Dec. 7, 2005, at 1, available at http://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/files/uploads/ icc-files/FINALPetitionICC.pdf [hereinafter ICC Petition].
18. Id.
19. Id. at 5.
20. Id. at 7.
21. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Dec. 10, 1982, 1833 U.N.T.S. 397 [hereinafter UNCLOS].
22. See, e.g., Rebecca Elizabeth Jacobs, Comment, Treading Deep Waters: Substantive Law Issues in Tuvalu's Threat to Sue the United States in the International Court of Justice, 14 PAC. RIM L. & POL'Y J. 103, 115 (2005).
23. See ARCTIC COUNCIL, ARCTIC CLIMATE IMPACT ASSESSMENT 990-92 (2005), available at http://www.acia.uaf.edu/pages /scientific.html.
24. For more information regarding litigation to combat climate change in various nations, see Climate Justice: Cases, http://www.climatelaw.org/ cases (last visited Oct. 14, 2007). For more information regarding litigation within the framework of the United States legal system, see David A. Grossman, Warming Up to a Not-So-Radical Idea: Tort-Based Climate Change Litigation, 28 COLUM. J. ENVTL. L. 1 (2003).
25. See ANTONIO CASSESE, INTERNATIONAL LAW 279-80 (2d ed. 2005).
26. See id. at 281-82.
27. See id. at 278-95, 326.
28. See Jacobs, supra note 21, at 115.
29. The division into primary and secondary norms emerged during the United Nations International Law Commission's state responsibility project. See U.N. Int'l Law Comm'n, Second Report on State Responsibility, ¶¶ 12-30, U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/233 (Apr. 20, 1970) (prepared by Roberto Ago), available at http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/documentation/english/a_4_233.pdf.
30. See United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change art. 4, May 9, 1992, S. Treaty Doc. No. 102-38, 1771 U.N.T.S. 107, available at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf [hereinafter UNFCCC]. Currently, 192 countries have ratified the Climate Convention. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Status of Ratification, http://unfccc.int/essential_background/convention/ status_of_ratification/items/2631.php (last visited Oct. 14, 2007). Likewise, 175 parties have ratified the Kyoto Protocol. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol, http:// unfccc.int/kyoto∥otocol/items/2830.php (last visited Oct. 14, 2007).
31. Kyoto Protocol, supra note 3, art. 3.
32. See YAMIN & DEPLEDGE, supra note 9, at 382-84.
33. Id. at 389-92.
34. Id. at 389.
35. UNCLOS, supra note 20.
36. RODA VERHEYEN, CLIMATE CHANGE DAMAGE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW: PREVENTION DUTIES AND STATE RESPONSIBILITY 50-52 (2005).
37. See id. at 52-53.
38. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: Status of Ratification (2007), http://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/ convention/status_of_ratification/application/pdf/ unfccc_conv_rat.pdf (declaration number two).
39. Id. (declaration numbers seven (Papua New Guinea), five (Fiji), eleven (Solomon Islands), and three (Kiribati)).
40. Kyoto Protocol: Status of Ratification (2007), http://unfccc.int/files/ kyoto_protocol/background/status_of_ratification/application/pdf/ kp_ratifcation.pdf (declaration number six: "The Government of the Republic of Kiribati declares its understanding that accession to the Kyoto Protocol shall in no way constitute a renunciation of any rights under international law concerning State responsibility for the adverse effects of the climate change and that no provision in the Protocol can be interpreted as derogating from principles of general international law.").
41. Id. (declaration number seven).
42. UNFCCC, supra note 29, art. 2.
43. VERHEYEN, supra note 35, at 62-67.
44. See UNFCCC, supra note 29, art. 4(2).
45. See Kyoto Protocol, supra note 3, art. 4(9), art. 21(7).
46. Conference of the Parties Serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, Montreal, Can., Nov. 28 - Dec. 10, 2005, Report of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol 3, U.N. Doc. FCCC/KP/CMP/2005/8/Add.1 (Mar. 30, 2006), available at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2005/cmp1/eng/ 08a01.pdf. A 2005 conference in Montreal for the parties to the Climate Convention simultaneously served as a meeting for the parties to the Kyoto Protocol and established the negotiation process to determine the mitigation commitments that would follow the first commitment period.
47. Id.;
48. see also Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties Under the Kyoto Protocol, Bonn, F.R.G., May 17-25, 2006, Report of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties Under the Kyoto Protocol, U.N. Doc. FCCC/KP/AWG/2006/2 (July 18, 2006), available at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2006/awg1/ eng/02.pdf.
49. UNFCCC, supra note 29, art. 2.
50. VERHEYEN, supra note 35, at 56.
51. Id. at 56;
52. see also Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties art. 18, May 23, 1969, 1155 U.N.T.S. 331, available at http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/ texts/instruments/english/conventions/1_1_1969.pdf. The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, to a great extent, codified international customary law.
53. See Malgosia Fitzmaurice, The Practical Working of the Law of Treaties, in INTERNATIONAL LAW 190 (Malcolm D. Evans ed., 2d ed. 2006).
54. See, e.g., PATRICIA W. BIRNIE & ALAN E. BOYLE, INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE ENVIRONMENT 524-26 (2d ed. 2002);
55. PHILLIPPE SANDS, PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW 361-65 (2d ed. 2003).
56. UNFCCC, supra note 29, art. 4(2).
57. Id.
58. See BIRNIE & BOYLE, supra note 49, at 526;
59. SANDS, supra note 49, at 364-65.
60. Some commentators have argued that the legal status of this article is questionable. See, e.g., Daniel Bodansky, The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: A Commentary, 18 YALE J. INT'L L. 451, 516 (1993).
61. Kyoto Protocol, supra note 3, art. 3.
62. UNFCCC, supra note 29, art. 14.
63. Id. art. 14(2).
64. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: Status of Ratification (2007), http://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/ convention/status_of_notification/application/pdf/ unfccc_convent.pdf (declaration number eleven, Solomon Islands). Upon ratification of the Climate Convention, the Solomon Islands accepted the arbitration as a means for settling their disputes over the interpretation and application of the Climate Convention with another party having made the same declaration.
65. UNFCCC, supra note 29, art. 14(5).
66. YAMIN & DEPLEDGE, supra note 9, at 383.
67. UNFCCC, supra note 29, art. 14(6).
68. See Andrew L. Strauss, The Legal Option: Suing the United States in International Forums for Global Warming Emissions, 33 ENVTL. L. REP. 10,185, 10,188 (2003) (referring to article 14(6), which requires the Conference of the Parties to approve detailed rules on the conciliation procedure). However, it is also possible to interpret this provision merely as a simple amplification rather than an absolute condition.
69. See UNFCCC, supra note 29, art. 14(6)-(7) ("Additional procedures relating to conciliation shall be adopted by the Conference of the Parties, as soon as practicable, in an annex on conciliation.").
70. UNFCCC, supra note 29, art. 13.
71. Id.
72. See VERHEYEN, supra note 35, at 117.
73. See United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Introduction, http://unfccc.int/kyoto∥otocol/compliance/introduction/ items/3024.php (last visited Oct. 20, 2007).
74. See id.
75. See id.
76. See BBC NEWS, supra note 15.
77. Jacobs, supra note 21, at 109;
78. see also Akiko Okamatsu, Problems and Prospects of International Legal Disputes on Climate Change, BERLIN CONFERENCE ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS DIMENSIONS OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE (2005), http://web.fu-berlin.de/ffu/akumwelt/bc2005/papers/ okamatsu2005.pdf (providing further detail and background).
79. Draft Articles on State Responsibility, 2 Y.B. Int'l L. Comm'n 30, U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/SER.A/1980/Add.1 (Part 2), available at http:// untreaty.un.org/ilc/publications/yearbooks/Ybkvolumes(e)/ ILC_1980_v2_p2_e.pdf (emphasis added).
80. The issue of international crimes was still debated in 1998 by the International Law Commission. See State Responsibility, [1998] 2 Y.B. Int'l L. Comm'n 60-76, U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/SER.A/1998/Add.1 (Part 2), available at http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/publications/yearbooks/ Ybkvolumes(e)/ILC_l998_v2_p2_e.pdf.
81. See U.N. Int'l Law Comm'n, Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts with Commentaries, ch. 3, ¶ (2001), available at http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/ instrument/english/commentaries/9_6_2001.pdf.
82. See State Responsibility, [1998] 2 Y.B. Int'l L. Comm'n 77, U.N. Doc. A/CN.4/SER.A/1998/Add.1 (Part 2), available at http:// untreaty.un.org/ilc/publications/yearbooks/Ybkvolumes(e)/ILC_1998_v2 p2_e.pdf.
83. See Jacobs, supra note 21, at 121-28.
84. Richard S.J. Tol & Roda Verheyen, State Responsibility and Compensation for Climate Change Damages - A Legal and Economic Assessment 32 ENERGY POL'Y 1109, 1110-15 (2004). The due diligence, or no-harm, principle is the most clearly accepted principle of international environmental law: States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental and developmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.
85. U.N. Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Braz., June 3-14, 1992, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Principle 2, U.N. Doc A/CONF.151/5 (June 14, 1992), available at http://www.unep.org/documents.multilingual/ default.asp?documentID=78&articleID=1163. Verheyen considers that "areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction" could also cover the climate system.
86. VERHEYEN, supra note 35, at 166-68;
87. but see, e.g., BIRNIE & BOYLE, supra note 49, at 111 (arguing that this refers only to clear international areas, such as the moon or high seas).
88. Mark L. Movsesian, Judging International Judgments, 48 VA. J. INT'L L. 65, 73-74 (2007). The consent does not need to be specific to the dispute before the ICJ.
89. Id. For instance, many existing multilateral and bilateral state agreements include the consent of states to submit their disputes to the ICJ.
90. Id. at 74. Further, a state can also make a declaration that it consents to the general jurisdiction of the ICJ.
91. Statute of the International Court of Justice, art. 36(2), June 26, 1945, 59 Stat. 1055, U.N.T.S. 993, available at http:// www.icj-cij.org/documents/index.php?p1=4&p2=2&p3=0 (last visited Nov. 18, 2007). There are currently sixty-five such states, but some declarations have removed various categories of dispute from the jurisdiction of the ICJ.
92. Movsesian, supra, at 74 n.46;
93. see also International Court of Justice, Declarations Recognizing the Jurisdiction of the Court as Compulsory, http://www.icj-cij.org/ jurisdiction/index.php?p1=5&p2=1&p3=3 (last visited Oct. 20, 2007) (providing links to each state's declaration). A state can also make a declaration under the Climate Convention that it accepts the ICJ as a dispute-resolution mechanism.
94. UNFCCC, supra note 29, at art. 14. However, no such declaration has been made.
95. Movsesian, supra note 74, at 75 ("States tend to reject ICJ jurisdiction over disputes that implicate significant interests.").
96. See Okamatsu, supra note 68.
97. See Phoebe Okowa, Issues of Admissibility and the Law on International Responsibility, in INTERNATIONAL LAW 479, 496-98 (Malcolm D. Evans ed., 2d ed. 2006);
98. but see CHRISTIAN J. TAMS, ENFORCING OBLIGATIONS ERGA OMNES IN INTERNATIONAL LAW 186 (2005). On the other hand, Tuvalu could claim that the activities of these states has already caused them material damage and that their climate policy has caused this damage by neglecting the due diligence principle.
99. Jacobs, supra note 21, at 128.
100. The problem also includes proving the causal relation between a state's climate policy and climate change damages. See Okamatsu, supra note 68, at 1-2;
101. but see VERHEYEN, supra note 35, at 248-57.
102. See LaGrand (F.R.G. v. U.S.), 2001 I.C.J. 466, 515 (June 27). LaGrand implies that in some situations "a duty to prevent future breaches can hardly be limited to bilateral legal relations between injured and responsible state.... [J]udgments awarding guarantees and assurances of non-repetition therefore seem more likely to have a general impact on a legal situation."
103. Christian J. Tams, Consular Assistance and Rights and Remedies: Comments on the ICJ's Judgment in the LaGrand Case, 13 EUR. J. INT'L L. 1257 (2002), http://www.ejil.org/journal/Vol13 /No5/sr1.pdf.
104. See Strauss, supra note 60, at 10,188;
105. Jacobs, supra note 21, at 115-18.
106. See, e.g., Western Sahara, Advisory Opinion, 1975 I.C.J. 12 (Oct. 16) (when Morocco failed to persuade Spain to submit the Western Sahara dispute to the ICJ, it passed a resolution at the UN General Assembly through which the ICJ was asked to give an advisory opinion).
107. U.N. Charter art. 96.
108. See id.
109. Id. art. 18.
110. See Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons (Req. for Advisory Op.), available at http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files /95/7646.pdf (last visited Nov. 2, 2007) (Seventy-eight votes for, forty-three against, and thirty-eight abstentions). "Equally,... the Court, in determining whether there are any compelling reasons for it to refuse to give such an opinion, will not have regard to the origins or to the political history of the request, or to the distribution of votes in respect of the adopted resolution." Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion, 1996 I.C.J. 226, 237 (July 8).
111. Alliance of Small Island States, The Alliance, http://www.sidsnet.org/ aosis/ (last visited Oct. 21, 2007) (stating that its membership includes forty-three states).
112. See Strauss, supra note 60, at 10,187.
113. Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion, 1996 I.C.J. 226, 226 (July 8).
114. See generally id.
115. Id. at 239.
116. U.N. Charter art. 96(2).
117. Legality of the Use by a State of Nuclear Weapons in Armed Conflict, Advisory Opinion, 1996 I.C.J. 66 (July 8), available at http:// www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/93/7407.pdf.
118. See id. at 80.
119. See United Nations Environmental Programme, About UNEP: The Organization, http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/ Default.asp?DocumentID=43 (last visited Oct. 28, 2007).
120. See Strauss, supra note 60, at 10,187;
121. Jacobs, supra note 21, at 117.
122. E-mail from Masa Nagai, Legal Division, United Nations Environmental Programme, to Timo Koivurova, Director, Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law (Aug. 29, 2006, 11:24 FST) (on file with author).
123. See generally MEINHARD DOELLE, FROM HOT AIR TO ACTION? CLIMATE CHANGE, COMPLIANCE AND THE FUTURE OF INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW 255-78 (2005);
124. VERHEYEN, supra note 35, at 192-224.
125. See Press Release, Climate Justice, UNESCO Danger-Listing Petitions Presented (Nov. 17, 2004), available at http:// www.climatelaw.org/media/2004Nov17.
126. Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, Nov. 16, 1972, art. 11(4), 27 U.S.T. 37, 15 U.N.T.S. 511, available at http://whc.unesco.org/archive/convention-en.pdf.
127. See Press Release, Climate Justice, supra note 98. The application was rejected at the thirtieth World Heritage Committee meeting, although the Committee did decide to start a climate change strategy.
128. Env't News Serv., UNESCO Adopts Climate Change Strategy for World Heritage Sites, July 11, 2001, http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/ jul2006/2006-07-11-01.asp.
129. See Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Climate Change, http://ioc.unesco.org/iocweb/climateChange.php (last visited Oct. 28, 2007).
130. UNCLOS, supra note 20, arts. 192, 194-95, 207, 212.
131. Id. art. 194(2).
132. DOELLE, supra note 97, at 189-98;
133. see also UNCLOS, supra note 20, art. 1(4) ("'[P]ollution of the marine environment' means the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the marine environment...." (emphasis added)).
134. UNCLOS, supra note 20, art. 279.
135. Id. art. 287(1).
136. Id.
137. Id. art. 287(5).
138. Id. art. 290(1).
139. Southern Bluefin Tuna Cases (N.Z. v. Japan; Austl. v. Japan), 38 I.L.M. 1624, 1634 (Int'l Trib. for the Law of the Sea 1999) ("Considering that there is scientific uncertainty regarding measures to be taken to conserve the stock of southern bluefin tuna... [the Tribunal] finds that measures should be taken as a matter of urgency to preserve the rights of the parties and to avert further deterioration of the southern bluefin tuna stock[.]"). The application of the precautionary principle by ITLOS gives victim states better prospects for requesting provisional measures from ITLOS based on the climate policies of a major greenhouse gas emitter.
140. UNCLOS, supra note 20, art. 290(5).
141. Tuvalu could not resort to arbitration against the United States because the United States is not a party to UNCLOS. See Status of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, http://www.un.org/Depts/ los/reference_files/status2007.pdf (last visited Nov. 2, 2007).
142. Jacobs, supra note 21, at 116 (referring to this possibility in the event the United States eventually ratifies UNCLOS).
143. See, e.g., Michael G. Faure & André Nollkaemper, International Liability as an Instrument to Prevent and Compensate for Climate Change, 43A STAN. J. INT'L L. 123 (2007);
144. Sara C. Aminzadeh, Note, A Moral Imperative: The Human Rights Implications of Climate Change, 30 HASTINGS INT'L & COMP. L. REV. 231 (2001).
145. Inuit Circumpolar Council, Inuit Circumpolar Conference, http:// inuitcircumpolar.com/index.php?ID=16&Lang=En&Parent_ID=16 (last visited Oct. 21, 2007).
146. See ICC Petition, supra note 16.
147. Inuit Circumpolar Council, Climate Change and Inuit Human Rights, ICC Executive Council Resolution 2003-01 (2003), available at http:// www.inuit.org/index.asp?lang=eng&num=244 [hereinafter ICC Executive Council Resolution].
148. Press Release, Ctr. for Int'l Envtl. Law, Inuit Leader Sheila Watt-Cloutier Announces Intention to File a Human Right Claim Against the U.S. for Its Dangerous Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Dec. 15, 2004), http://www.ciel.org/Climate/Lawsuit_Inuit_15Dec04.htm.
149. ICC Petition, supra note 16.
150. Id. at 5.
151. See Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Speech Notes from the Tenth Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Dec. 15, 2004), http://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/index.php?ID=282&Lang=En.
152. ICC Petition, supra note 16.
153. Id.
154. Press Release, Inuit Circumpolar Council, Inuit Petition Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to Oppose Climate Change Caused by the United States of America (Dec. 7, 2005), http://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/ index.php?ID=316&Lang=En.
155. See Center for International Environmental Law, Climate Change: CIEL Representing Inuit in Human Rights Case (Feb. 25, 2005), http:// www.ciel.org/Climate/Climate_Inuit.html.
156. See Press Release, Earthjustice, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to Hold Hearing on Global Warming (Feb. 6, 2007), http:// www.earthjustice.org/news/press/007/ inter-american-commission-on-human-rights-Hearing-on-Global-Warming.html.
157. See ICC Executive Council Resolution, supra note 117.
158. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Dec. 16, 1996, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, available at http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/ a_ccpr.htm.
159. See, e.g., Yanomami Indians v. Brazil, Case 7615, Inter-Am. C.H.R., Report No. 12/85, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.66, doc. 10 rev. 1, ¶ 2 (1985), available at http://www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/84.85eng/ Brazil7615.htm;
160. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Ecuador, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.96, doc. 10 rev. 1, at ch. 7 (1997), available at http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/ecuador-eng/ index%20-%20ecuador.htm.
161. See, e.g., Maya Indigenous Communities of the Toledo District v. Belize, Case 12.053, Inter-Am. C.H.R. Report No. 40/04, OEA/Ser.L/V/ II.122, doc. 5 rev. ¶ 86 (2004), available at http:// www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/2004eng/Belize.12053eng.htm. Both the U.N. Human Rights Committee and the European Commission of Human Rights have recognized the connection between human rights and environmental protection.
162. See Richard Desgangné, Integrating Environmental Values into the European Convention on Human Rights, 89 AM. J. INT'L L. 263, 263, 267 (1995). In the Lubicon Lake Band case, the Human Rights Committee viewed that the economic activities permitted by Canada to the Band's traditional territories violated their culture and traditional livelihoods protected by Article 27 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
163. Jérémie Gilbert, Historical Indigenous Peoples' Land Claims: A Comparative and International Approach to the Common Law Doctrine on Indigenous Title, 56 INT'L & COMP. L.Q. 583, 594-95 (2007).
164. See Rules of Procedure of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, OAS Special Res., 109th Sess. (2000) (amended 2006), available at http://www.cidh.oas.org/Basicos/English/ Basic18.Rules%20of%20Procedure%20of%20the%20Commission.htm [hereinafter Rules of Procedure].
165. Id. art. 23.
166. Id.
167. Id.
168. See id.
169. See id. art. 28.
170. See id. art. 31.
171. See ICC Petition, supra note 16, at 112-16.
172. See ICC Executive Council Resolution, supra note 117.
173. See Rules of Procedure, supra note 131, art. 34(b).
174. Megan Mooney, How the Organization of American States Took the Lead: The Development of Indigenous Peoples' Rights in the Americas, 31 AM. INDIAN L. REV. 553, 570-71 (2007).
175. See supra note 130.
176. Id.
177. INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, CLIMATE CHANGE 2007: THE PHYSICAL SCIENCE BASIS, SUMMARY FOR POLICY MAKERS 2 (2007), available at http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-wg2.htm.
178. See ARCTIC COUNCIL, supra note 22, at 649-90.
179. Organization of American States, Office of International Law: B-32: American Convention on Human Rights, http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/ sigs/b-32.html (last visited Nov. 2, 2007).
180. Organization of American States, American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, 1948, O.A.S. Off. Rec., OEA/Ser.L./V./II.23, doc. 21 rev. 6, available at http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/ga-res98/ eres1591.htm.
181. See ICC Petition, supra note 16, at 74-95.
182. See Statute of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, art. 20, OAS Res. 447, 9th Reg. Sess. (1979), available at http:// www.oas.org/XXXVGA/english/doc_referencia/Estatuto_CIDH.pdf. Although this document is not legally binding as a declaration, it has achieved international legal relevance through the so-called double-incorporation.
183. See Douglass Cassel, Inter-American Human Rights Law, Soft and Hard, in COMMITMENT AND COMPLIANCE: THE ROLE OF NON-BINDING NORMS IN THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL SYSTEM 393, 397 (Dinah Shelton ed., 2000).
184. First, this declaration was included in the Statute of the Commission on Human Rights in 1960 at a time when the legal status of the Commission on Human Rights was still unclear. Id.
185. Secondly, an amendment incorporated the Commission on Human Rights into the OAS Charter in 1970. Id.
186. In this way, the declaration on human rights evolved to become legally binding and as such it has also been treated in the case-practice of the Commission on Human Rights. Id.
187. ICC Petition, supra note 16, at 96.
188. Id. at 96 (quoting Dann v. United States, Case 11.140, Inter-Am. C.H.R., Report No. 75/02, OEA/Ser.L.N/II.117, doc. 1 rev. 1, ¶ 125 (2002)).
189. Id.
190. Id. (quoting Maya Indigenous Communities of the Toledo District v. Belize, Case 12.053, Inter-Am. C.H.R., Report No. 40/04, OEA/Ser.L/V/ II.122, doc. 5 rev. ¶ 95 (2004)).
191. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, supra note 128.
192. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, opened for signature Dec. 16, 1966, 993 U.N.T.S. 3 (entered into force Jan. 3, 1976).
193. International Labour Organisation, Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, June 27, 1989, I.L.O. No. 69, 28 I.L.M. 1382 (entered into force Sept. 5, 1991).
194. ICC Petition, supra note 16, at 96-97.
195. See id. at 68-69.
196. See id. at 20-34.
197. Id. at 29-30.
198. Id. at 30-33.
199. Id. at 33-34.
200. ARCTIC COUNCIL, supra note 22. The Arctic Council's climate policy began with the launch of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA).
201. TIMO KOIVUROVA, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN THE ARCTIC: A STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL LEGAL NORMS 93 (2002).
202. ACIA was conducted in much the same way as the IPCC assessments - by collecting published scientific studies and synthesizing their results. Id. at 305 n.1156.
203. However, ACIA differed in that it was the first regional climate change assessment, it studied the impacts of ozone depletion in the Arctic region, and included the traditional knowledge and observations of indigenous peoples. See ARCTIC COUNCIL, supra note 22, at 990.
204. ACIA results should influence the function of all policy-making within the Arctic Council. ARCTIC COUNCIL, Preface to IMPACTS OF A WARMING ARCTIC: ARCTIC CLIMATE IMPACT ASSESSMENT (2004);
205. see generally ARCTIC COUNCIL, supra note 22;
206. Timo Koivurova & David VanderZwaag, The Arctic Council at 10 Years: Retrospect and Prospects, 40 U.B.C. L. REV. 121 (2007).
207. ARCTIC COUNCIL, supra note 22, at 61-98.
208. See ICC Petition, supra note 16, at 30-33.
209. ARCTIC COUNCIL, supra note 22, at 649-90.
210. Id.
211. See ICC Petition, supra note 16, at 27-34;
212. ARCTIC COUNCIL, supra note 22, at 989-1020.
213. ICC Petition, supra note 16, at 74-96.
214. Id. at 96-97.
215. See id. at 97.
216. Coard v. United States, Case 10.951, Inter-Am. C.H.R., Report No. 109/ 99, OEA/Ser.LIV/II.106, doc. 6 rev. ¶ 40 (1999).
217. Id. at 97-102.
218. Id. at 97-99.
219. Id.
220. Id. at 99-100.
221. Id. at 101-102.
222. ICC Executive Council Resolution, supra note 117.
223. Rules of Procedure, supra note 131, art. 43.
224. The Commission can also recommend that the parties negotiate an agreement. Id. art. 41. Presumably, it would be difficult in this case for the parties to reach a mutually agreeable solution.
225. Id. art. 43(2).
226. Id. arts. 45-46.
227. Id. arts. 56-57.
228. See supra note 149.
229. ICC Petition, supra note 16, at 118.
230. Id.
231. Id.
232. Id.
233. Id.
234. Id.
235. Letter from Ariel E. Dulitzky, Assistant Executive Sec'y, Inter-Am. Comm'n on Human Rights, to Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Conference (Feb. 1, 2007), http://www.earthjustice.org/ library/legal_docs/inter-american-commission-on-human-rights- inuit-invite.pdf.
236. Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Plenary Intervention at the Tenth Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Dec. 17, 2004), available at http://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/index.php?ID=283&Lang=En. [Conferences of the Parties] should discuss the current and projected impacts of climate change on human rights - particularly the human rights of Indigenous Peoples who are particularly vulnerable to climate change. You can't ignore this dimension much longer. People around the world know that climate change affects their lives, and responding is not just about carbon sinks, emission trading schemes, and technology transfers. If you want to engage the world talk about the human rights of global climate change.
237. Id.
238. Press Release, United Nations Envtl. Programme Key Polar Ctr., Many Strong Voices Join Forces on Climate Change (May 10, 2007), http:// polar.grida.no/news.cfm?pressReleaseItemId=1066.
239. But see DOELLE, supra note 97, at 320-26.
240. See, e.g., Case Concerning the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Project (Hung. v. Slovk.), 1997 I.C.J. 7 (Sept. 25);
241. Lake Lanoux Arbitration (Spain v. Fr.), 12 R.I.A.A. 281 (1957);
242. Trail Smelter Arbitration (U.S. v. Can.), 3 R.I.A.A. 1905 (1941).
243. See Jutta Brunnée, Of Sense and Sensibility: Reflections on International Liability Regimes as Tools for Environmental Protection, 53 INT'L & COMP. L.Q. 351, 353 (2004).
244. See YAMIN & DEPLEDGE, supra note 9, at 30-59.
245. See Timo Koivurova & Leena Heinämäki, The Participation of Indigenous Peoples in International Norm-Making in the Arctic, 42 POLAR REC. 101 (2006), available at http://journals.cambridge.org/production/action/ cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=435124 (arguing that by consolidating the agency of ICC in the climate change regime, the petition process might also have consequences for the, Inuit agency in general in international relations, and also contribute to the new ways of seeing how indigenous peoples should be involved in international cooperation).
246. See BILL MCSWEENEY, SECURITY, IDENTITY AND INTERESTS: A SOCIOLOGY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 45-67 (1999);
247. see also Lorraine Elliott, Expanding the Mandate of the United Nations Security Council, in REFORMING INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE: FROM INSTITUTIONAL LIMITS TO INNOVATIVE REFORMS 204-22 (W. Bradnee Chambers & Jessica F. Green eds., 2005) (discussing the securitization of environmental problems);
248. but see Monica Tennberg, Environmental Threats, Governmentality and Security in Northern Europe, in NORTH EUROPEAN AND BALTIC SEA INTEGRATION (Lars Hedegaard & Bjarne Lindström eds., 2002) (offering a critical perspective of the concept). The securitization of climate change might translate into legal rules and doctrines similar to those establishing obligations of protection for the whole community of states (responsibility to protect) in cases of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
249. See R2P: Now an International Doctrine, http:// www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/features/383?theme=alt5 (last visited Oct. 28, 2007). It is well worth questioning whether the Tuvaluans for example should be able to enjoy such protection as outlined in the 2005 World Summit.
250. See id. Interestingly, the United Kingdom raised the issue of climate change in the Security Council of the UN.
251. Paul Reynolds, Security Council Takes on Global Warming, BBC NEWS (Apr. 18, 2007), http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/ 6559211.stm.