tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/lewis-and-clark-2883/articlesLewis & Clark 2020-12-07T13:12:43Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1504362020-12-07T13:12:43Z2020-12-07T13:12:43ZDonors grow more generous when they support nonprofits facing hostile environments abroad<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372612/original/file-20201202-15-1k5ff1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=209%2C71%2C3415%2C1939&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hungarian protesters hold glowing cellphones aloft at a 2017 protest against tough laws targeting foreign-backed nonprofit organizations and universities. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/prostesters-hold-their-lit-cell-phones-at-the-parliament-news-photo/686455934?adppopup=true">STR/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>U.S. donors become more generous toward nonprofit organizations after learning that those groups are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764020971045">contending with hostile political situations</a> in the foreign countries where they operate. </p>
<p>We determined this by conducting a survey with 500 people we connected with through <a href="https://www.mturk.com/worker">Amazon MTurk</a>, an online crowdsourced labor market.</p>
<p>The people we surveyed learned about the <a href="https://www.rescue.org/page/history-international-rescue-committee">International Rescue Committee</a>, a leading refugee resettlement agency, then responded to questions about whether and how much they would be willing to donate to it. Half read that the group works in countries that have recently passed laws that harshly restrict nonprofit organizations, while the others did not.</p>
<p>Hearing about the group’s travails didn’t affect how many would be willing to donate. Roughly half of both groups said they would donate.</p>
<p>Seeing this information, however, did make likely donors more generous. Those who’d seen it said they would be willing to donate 26% more than people who hadn’t reviewed it. Many explicitly connected their additional support to the International Rescue Committee’s legal troubles. As one person who took part in our study explained, the organization is “doing good work in countries where it is tough for groups like them and they need all the help they can get.” </p>
<p>Participants became even more generous when they read that the organization both faced trouble abroad and was mostly funded by private donations. They were willing to donate 32% more to the organization. We think this probably happened because those donors felt that their support could make a difference.</p>
<p>As we explained in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764020971045">Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly</a>, this difference suggests that people who donate to human rights and refugee groups realize that these organizations need more funding when foreign governments restrict their work.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Many countries, including <a href="https://www.fidh.org/en/region/europe-central-asia/hungary/eu-top-court-rules-that-hungary-s-anti-ngo-law-unduly-restricts">Hungary</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/05/brazil-ngos-crackdown-raids-amazon-fires">Brazil</a>, are using violence and legal measures to control, intimidate and shut down independent organizations, including foreign ones. Groups that focus on human rights, elections, corruption and media freedom – issues that challenge state authority – are especially targeted.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.amnestyusa.org/about-us/history/">Amnesty International</a> pulled out of India in the fall of 2020 after publishing reports highly critical of the government’s human rights record. The Indian government’s reprisals, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/world/asia/india-amnesty-international.html">Amnesty says</a>, made fundraising and operating there nearly impossible. Following the enactment of a <a href="https://www.cof.org/news/new-indian-fcra-amendments-impact-foreign-grants-indian-ngos">new law tightening rules on foreign-funded nonprofit groups</a>, the government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/29/amnesty-to-halt-work-in-india-due-to-government-witch-hunt">froze Amnesty’s accounts</a> without notice. Indian officials have also <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/06/26/india-rights-groups-harassed-over-foreign-funding">targeted other outspoken nonprofit organizations</a>.</p>
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<p>Thousands of other charities face similar restrictions, <a href="https://monitor.civicus.org/">now increasingly widespread</a>, around the world.</p>
<p>In 2015, Russia expelled George Soros’ <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/01/russia-open-society-foundation-banned">Open Society Foundations</a> after passing laws that restricted nongovernmental organizations. Three years later, Hungary passed similar legislation and then also <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hungary-soros-office/soros-foundation-to-shut-its-office-in-repressive-hungary-idUSKCN1IG0IT">forced out Open Society Foundations</a>, along with many other organizations. Since 2016, China has clamped down on <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/ccs.v9i3.5601">thousands of foreign groups</a> operating there.</p>
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<p>In response, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0899764017737384">North American and Western European governments have reduced aid</a> to repressive countries. India is a prime example: In response to its increasingly restrictive laws, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/ngo-crackdown-has-foreign-fund-inflows-plunging-40-since-modi-govt-era-report/articleshow/68342585.cms?from=mdr">foreign governments, foundations and donors have reduced their funding</a> for nonprofit operations there by 40% since 2014. In Russia, nongovernmental organizations have been <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/russia-usa-democracy-idUSL1E8NE7FF20121214">defunded and forced to relocate to other countries</a>.</p>
<p>These repressive measures appear to be working and limiting the influence of independent groups. Without consistent funding from abroad, many of them have subsequently shut down, reducing their ability to influence policy and <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2017/05/18/civil-society-under-assault-repression-and-responses-in-russia-egypt-and-ethiopia-pub-69953">hold governments accountable</a>.</p>
<p>Our findings suggest that telling donors about crackdowns by foreign governments can potentially boost support.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We would like to follow up by analyzing whether donors in other countries, particularly in the European Union, would respond similarly to this kind of appeal.</p>
<p>We are also looking into what kinds of people are more likely to support besieged charities operating in foreign countries by assessing how someone’s life experiences and trust in political and charitable institutions might influence their willingness to support global causes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150436/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many countries, ranging from Hungary to Brazil, are using violence and legal measures to control, intimidate and shut down independent organizations – including foreign ones.Andrew Heiss, Assistant Professor of Public and Nonprofit Management, Georgia State UniversitySuparna Chaudhry, Assistant Professor of International Affairs, Lewis & Clark Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1438012020-09-08T19:21:55Z2020-09-08T19:21:55ZComic-Con@Home: Virtual comics event declared a failure by industry critics, but fans loved it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355620/original/file-20200831-21-hu412v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=203%2C8%2C5235%2C3343&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Don't forget fans. Here, Phuong Nguyen (left) as Captain America with Derrick Petry as Deadpool, at Comic-Con International in July 2018, in San Diego. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Richard Vogel)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With the vast majority of North America’s <a href="https://benjaminwoo.carto.com/builder/5bfa6c88-f43d-438c-bbd1-1e6787b0c1f3/embed">thousand-plus fan conventions</a> cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual conventions (called cons) have been a bright spot for fans in an otherwise bleak year. Although <a href="https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/45768/with-comic-conventions-lockdown-organizers-move-online-mixed-results">organizers have experimented with different ways to run an online convention</a>, none had as high expectations as the San Diego Comic-Con’s <a href="https://www.comic-con.org/cci/2020/athome">Comic-Con@Home</a>.</p>
<p>The virtual event, held July 22–26, featured content distributed across several platforms, including video panels, a virtual exhibition hall and a <a href="https://fandom.tumblr.com/post/624634965150302208/comicconathome-cosplay-masquerade-winners">cosplay masquerade on Tumblr</a>. From the <a href="https://twitter.com/Comic_Con/status/1258898741622382593">beginning</a>, it promised not only to fill the Comic-Con-shaped hole in regular attendees’ summers but also to make a Comic-Con experience accessible to fans who ordinarily can’t attend or are turned off by the scramble for badges and hotel rooms or by endless lines.</p>
<p>Comic-Con@Home inevitably drew comparisons <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/irl">to the in-real-life</a> event, but some critics promptly <a href="https://news.avclub.com/the-comic-con-at-home-experiment-didnt-work-out-especia-1844525307">branded it</a> <a href="https://screenrant.com/comic-con-home-a-massive-failure/ment-didnt-work-out-especia-1844525307">a failure</a> — perhaps most prominently in <em>Variety</em>, the entertainment industry trade magazine. </p>
<p>But calling Comic-Con@Home a flop for <a href="https://www.thegamer.com/comic-con-at-home-schedule-no-marvel-dc-warner-brothers/">not having enough exclusive movie reveals</a> or <a href="https://www.slashfilm.com/comic-con-at-home-numbers-failure/">failing to produce enough social media buzz</a> assumes too much. Not all participants share the same goals as the largest industry players. </p>
<p>While Comic-Con has always had a relationship to Hollywood, to many fans, gaining virtual access to panels that might have been otherwise capped by space constraints and the sense of community matter more than a simplistic analysis about metrics or interactivity.</p>
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<h2>Industry views of Comic-Con</h2>
<p><em>Variety</em>’s Adam B. Vary’s story, “Why Comic-Con ‘At Home’ Was a Bust” cites <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ListenFirstMedia/posts/2926734444104271">data from social media analytics firm ListenFirst</a>, which found “<a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/news/comic-con-at-home-analysis-walking-dead-new-mutants-1234717509/">tweets that mentioned Comic-Con@Home were down 95 per cent from 2019’s live convention</a>.” Vary is unimpressed by YouTube views of around 15,000 per panel, and he laments the lack of fan interaction — “the most elemental reason for Comic-Con’s 50-year success” — in Comic-Con@Home’s video panels, which were pre-recorded and disabled user comments.</p>
<p>But the relationship between fans, Comic-Con and big media companies <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/only-at-comic-con/9780813594705">has often</a> proven a point of tension. When <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/20th-century-fox-pulls-out-of-comic-con-hall-h-presentation-exclusive/">a major studio skips a presentation</a> in the <a href="https://comicbook.com/irl/news/comic-con-2020-someone-made-a-hall-h-sign-for-their-home/">celebrated Hall H</a> or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/13/business/media/13comic.html">an apparent cult classic in the making bombs at the box office</a>, the media are quick to speculate whether Comic-Con attendees have lost their most favoured audience status.</p>
<p>If anything, <em>Variety</em>’s focus on analytics proves that, when it comes to the entertainment industry’s attempts to shape and define the Comic-Con experience, the virtual con wasn’t really all that different than other years.</p>
<h2>Another look at numbers</h2>
<p>Evaluating at-home participation by the same yardstick as an in-person event doesn’t account for differences in format and mode of engagement. These metrics need to be understood in context. Even then, they don’t tell the whole story of Comic-Con@Home.</p>
<p>For instance, the more than <a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/news/comic-con-at-home-analysis-walking-dead-new-mutants-1234717509">84,000 views logged for AMC’s <em>The Walking Dead</em> panel</a>, (now over <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=FDwoZKvV6q0">95,000</a>) would be an impossibility in Hall H, which seats 6,500 fans. </p>
<p>This same panel also aired on gaming and entertainment site <a href="https://www.ign.com/events/comic-con">IGN’s official Comic-Con hub</a>, which did feature live chatting among users. (As of this writing, the IGN version of <em>The Walking Dead</em> panel has garnered another <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pno12-zKD8g">63,000</a> views, and their <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYlpa4_qFis">livestream of that day’s programming</a> was accessed over 180,000 times.)</p>
<p>Add the <a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/news/comic-con-at-home-analysis-walking-dead-new-mutants-1234717509/">11,900</a> tweets about this panel alone cited in <em>Variety</em>, and these impressions and engagements begin to rival, if not exceed, the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonthompson/2017/07/25/a-thor-subject-comic-cons-biggest-winners-on-social-media/#392353ab5ff4">103,000</a> social media mentions logged by <em>The Walking Dead</em> in 2017. </p>
<p>And let’s not forget fan- and community-led panels. Their views this year frequently outstripped the capacity of the rooms they are typically assigned in the San Diego Convention Center. For example, this year’s Super Asian America panel has received <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKBifGHxhPY">1,700 views on YouTube</a> so far; in 2019, it was <a href="https://comiccon2019.sched.com/event/RstI/super-asian-america">scheduled in room 5AB</a>, which has a <a href="https://sdccblog.com/2015/06/san-diego-comic-con-room-capacities/">maximum capacity of only 504</a>.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BKBifGHxhPY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Super Asian America panel.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sense of community</h2>
<p>Throughout Comic-Con@Home, fans used social media, blogs and forums to share memories and connect with friends they made at previous Comic-Cons. Some went so far <a href="https://twitter.com/ParksAndCons/status/1286505754086617089">as to travel</a> to San Diego and hold <a href="https://twitter.com/Crazy4ComicCon/status/1287220815491022848">socially distant meet-ups</a>, including cosplay <a href="https://twitter.com/batcap50/status/1287505035924869121">photo shoots</a>, in <a href="https://twitter.com/Crazy4ComicCon/status/1283456466309885952">beloved locations</a> nearby. </p>
<p>The San Diego Convention Center’s <a href="https://twitter.com/SDConventionCtr/status/1285632280409628672">video tribute</a> prompted an outpouring of love for the building, which for many attendees symbolizes the experience of Comic-Con (<a href="https://twitter.com/yesterdaysco/status/1286337614866505728">an “I Miss SDCC” pin featuring the convention centre sold out in two minutes</a>). </p>
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<p>Fans even bonded over negative experiences, such as <a href="https://twitter.com/OriginalFunko/status/1286110722489872395">the glitches</a> in the online sales of exclusive merchandise. In these moments, the sense of community mattered more than the relative absence of Hollywood buzz and hype. </p>
<p>Contrary to <em>Variety</em>, the largest fan-run SDCC blog stated, “<a href="https://twitter.com/SD_Comic_Con/status/1287917039571685382">we had an amazing time</a>,” a sentiment <a href="https://twitter.com/toddlandstore/status/1287903359513448449">echoed by</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CABrowncoats/status/1288104693709672448">many virtual</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/EnglishmanSDCC/status/1287868004085063681">attendees</a>. </p>
<p>Experiences like these are absent from industry-oriented assessments of Comic-Con@Home. </p>
<h2>Comics go beyond Hollywood’s needs</h2>
<p>Instead of definitively capturing the meaning of Comic-Con@Home, criticisms of the event illustrate how <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780203872604/chapters/10.4324/9780203872604-8">media companies still claim pop-culture pride of place for themselves</a>, even as the popularity of Comic-Con and other <a href="https://doi.org/10.1386/jfs_00007_1">con events</a> is frequently cited (often by <a href="https://variety.com/2014/film/news/hollywood-points-the-focus-to-fans-at-comic-con-1201266232/">these same</a> outlets) as evidence of fandom’s growing influence. </p>
<p>This is not to suggest that cultural industries should be understood in simplistic, fan-versus-industry terms.</p>
<p>But with fan events moving mostly online for the foreseeable future, the debate about Comic-Con@Home is a useful reminder that these relationships don’t start and end with Hollywood’s needs. </p>
<p>The Comic-Con experience may have looked different this year, but competing attempts to define this experience — as either failure or success — made it just another Comic-Con.</p>
<p><em>This analysis was collaboratively authored by the members of the <a href="https://roccetlab.ca/projects/swarming-sdcc/">Swarming SDCC</a> project team, including Anne Gilbert, Felan Parker, Suzanne Scott and Matthew J. Smith.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143801/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Swarming SDCC collective's research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erin Hanna and Melanie E.S. Kohnen do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some comic fans have found a bright spot in virtual conventions in an otherwise bleak pandemic year. The sense of community matters more than a simplistic analysis about metrics or interactivity.Benjamin Woo, Associate professor, Communication and Media Studies, Carleton UniversityErin Hanna, Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies, University of OregonMelanie E.S. Kohnen, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Media Studies, Lewis & Clark Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1301622020-01-23T13:50:54Z2020-01-23T13:50:54ZThe dramatic dismissal of a landmark youth climate lawsuit might not close the book on that case<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311257/original/file-20200121-117927-p6lrji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=432%2C1473%2C4456%2C1649&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The legal battle these young plaintiffs are waging might not be over yet.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Youths-Sue-Climate-Change/c50712fe0fdc45ad8387870bdb77727a/5/0">AP Photo/Steve Dipaola</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A sharply divided panel of three federal judges on Jan. 17 dismissed a high-profile climate lawsuit brought on behalf of <a href="https://www.youthvgov.org/meet-the-youth">21 young people</a> against the federal government. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2020/01/17/18-36082.pdf">Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals’ ruling</a> accepted with unusual bluntness that the federal government’s climate policies may pose “clear and present danger” capable of destroying the nation, but said it’s up to the federal government and Congress, not the U.S. courts, to do something about it. </p>
<p>The three judges agreed that the young plaintiffs have <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5e22101b7a850a06acdff1bc/1579290663460/2020.01.17+JULIANA+OPINION.pdf">constitutional rights</a> to a stable climate system, but judges Andrew D. Hurwitz and Mary H. Murguia said that <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/1/17/21070810/climate-change-lawsuit-juliana-vs-us-our-childrens-trust-9th-circuit">courts have no role</a> in bringing that about. Likely remedies would involve changes in transportation and energy policies, along with public lands management.</p>
<p>Lawyers for the youth plaintiffs in <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5824e85e6a49638292ddd1c9/1478813795912/Order+MTD.Aiken.pdf">Juliana v. United States</a> said that they <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5e22508873d1bc4c30fad90d/1579307146820/Juliana+Press+Release+1-17-20.pdf">aren’t giving up</a>. They plan to petition the full court of 29 active <a href="https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/content/view_seniority_list.php?pk_id=0000000035">Ninth Circuit court judges</a> to review the case. </p>
<p>As environmental law professors, <a href="http://www.aulawreview.org/no-ordinary-lawsuit-climate-change-due-process-and-the-public-trust-doctrine/">we often write</a> and teach students about this <a href="http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/lawyers-are-unleashing-a-flurry-of-lawsuits-to-step-up-the-fight-against-climate-change">groundbreaking case</a>. In our view, this case is important not only because it seeks to force the federal government to phase out fossil fuels, but also because it <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/2/22/17140166/climate-change-lawsuit-exxon-juliana-liability-kids">frames the climate crisis</a> in terms of fundamental constitutional rights. </p>
<h2>Public trust doctrine</h2>
<p>The lawsuit challenges <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/climate/kids-climate-lawsuit-lawyer.html">U.S. energy policies</a>, which <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/57a35ac5ebbd1ac03847eece/1470323398409/YouthAmendedComplaintAgainstUS.pdf">the plaintiffs allege</a> have destabilized the climate system and jeopardize human life, private property and “civilization” itself.</p>
<p>The case, <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/57a35ac5ebbd1ac03847eece/1470323398409/YouthAmendedComplaintAgainstUS.pdf">filed in 2015</a>, originally took aim at the Obama administration and now targets the Trump administration. It accuses government defendants of promoting fossil fuels for decades with “deliberate indifference to the peril they knowingly created.”</p>
<p>The young plaintiffs alleged a host of individual harms from climate disruption, including damage from fires, floods, sea level rise and ocean warming that affects fisheries. </p>
<p>The case has surmounted big hurdles before.</p>
<p>The youth won a landmark victory in 2016 in the District Court of Oregon when Judge <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5824e85e6a49638292ddd1c9/1478813795912/Order+MTD.Aiken.pdf">Ann Aiken ruled</a> that the plaintiffs had a constitutional right to a “climate system capable of sustaining human life,” grounded in the due process clause of the Constitution and the <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2572802">public trust doctrine</a>, a principle with ancient roots requiring government to hold and protect essential resources as a sustaining endowment for citizens, in the present and the future. </p>
<p>A trial <a href="http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/2019/01/07/the-trial-of-the-century-a-preview-of-how-climate-science-could-play-out-in-the-courtroom-courtesy-of-juliana-v-united-states/">scheduled for Oct. 29, 2018</a>, would have marked a first. Had it gone forward, the courts would have appraised the dangers U.S. fossil fuel policies pose, based on objective climate science.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/07/09/youth-climate-case-juliana-writ-mandamus/">federal lawyers</a> <a href="https://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-youth-climate-trial-juliana-20190603-story.html">won an early appeal</a> to the Ninth Circuit, which led first to a delay and subsequently this dismissal.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311259/original/file-20200121-117917-1m776wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311259/original/file-20200121-117917-1m776wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311259/original/file-20200121-117917-1m776wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311259/original/file-20200121-117917-1m776wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311259/original/file-20200121-117917-1m776wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311259/original/file-20200121-117917-1m776wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311259/original/file-20200121-117917-1m776wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311259/original/file-20200121-117917-1m776wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Will they ever get their day in court?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Youths-Sue-Climate-Change/a84fcbc24efb4880a47a7fb8438bfcfc/2/0">Robin Loznak/Pool Photo via AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘On the Eve of Destruction’</h2>
<p>The three judges did agree on something: The federal government’s <a href="https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-fossil-fuel-subsidies-a-closer-look-at-tax-breaks-and-societal-costs">promotion of fossil fuel use</a> is pushing the nation toward collapse. </p>
<p>Quoting the 1960s-era protest song “<a href="https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/21085340/Barry+McGuire/Eve+of+Destruction">Eve of Destruction</a>,” Judge Hurwitz, writing for himself and Judge Murguia, blamed the federal government for long knowing that fossil fuels can cause “catastrophic climate change.” He warned that the policies now in place may hasten “<a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5e22101b7a850a06acdff1bc/1579290663460/2020.01.17+JULIANA+OPINION.pdf">environmental apocalypse</a>” – burying cities, unleashing life-threatening disasters and jeopardizing crucial food and water sources.</p>
<p>The majority offered no hope that political leaders would respond in time. </p>
<p>Observing that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have “skyrocketed to levels not seen for almost 3 million years,” and the U.S. is expanding oil and gas extraction four times faster than that of any other nation – growth that “shows no signs of abating” – <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5e22101b7a850a06acdff1bc/1579290663460/2020.01.17+JULIANA+OPINION.pdf">Hurwitz wrote</a> the problem is “approaching the point of no return.”</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/01/17/797416530/kids-climate-case-reluctantly-dismissed-by-appeals-court">a forceful dissent</a>, Judge <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5e22101b7a850a06acdff1bc/1579290663460/2020.01.17+JULIANA+OPINION.pdf">Josephine L. Staton countered</a>:</p>
<p>“It is as if an asteroid were barreling toward Earth and the government decided to shut down our only defenses. The government bluntly insists that it has the absolute and unreviewable power to destroy the Nation. My colleagues throw up their hands.”</p>
<h2>The role of the court</h2>
<p>There was some good news for plaintiffs in the decision. The court would have found sufficient injury and causation, both needed to grant judicial review, but it was troubled with the court’s role in providing a climate remedy.</p>
<p>The majority thought that the separation of powers between the three branches of government relegates courts to the sidelines. The dissent instead viewed the separation of powers principle to call courts to the forefront. Staton saw an <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5e22101b7a850a06acdff1bc/1579290663460/2020.01.17+JULIANA+OPINION.pdf">implicit duty embedded in the Constitution</a> that obliges courts to prevent the other branches from bringing the nation to its demise.</p>
<p>The Founders gave an independent judiciary the responsibility of preventing the other branches from trammeling fundamental liberties of citizens. As the window of opportunity to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report">avert climate disaster</a> closes, checks and balances in government matter more than ever before.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://blogs2.law.columbia.edu/climate-change-litigation/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/non-us-case-documents/2020/20200113_2015-HAZA-C0900456689_judgment.pdf">Supreme Court of the Netherlands</a>, in December 2019, rejected the argument that the Juliana majority endorsed. That court found that the judicial branch may require the political branches to act, ordering a <a href="https://apnews.com/5534fe18ac5352ba43c74c9a64d6a20a">25% reduction in emissions</a> from 1990 levels by the end of 2020.</p>
<h2>Brown as a precedent</h2>
<p>The divided Juliana panel fundamentally disagreed on courts’ ability to provide a remedy. </p>
<p>The plaintiffs ask for a <a href="https://grist.org/fix/how-21-kids-could-force-a-major-turnaround-on-climate/">court-supervised federal plan</a> to shrink the nation’s carbon footprint at a rate necessary to stave off disastrous levels of climate change. They draw a parallel with ending official school segregation after the Supreme Court’s landmark <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/347us483">Brown v. Board of Education ruling</a> in 1954.</p>
<p>In that case, the Supreme Court found public school segregation to be unconstitutional. The justices also recognized that their decision – intended to protect the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/349/294">rights of all children to public education</a> – would require courts to supervise detailed and complex remedial action by school authorities.</p>
<p>The Juliana majority believed judicial supervision would mire the courts in protracted and complex policy issues. Had the courts invoked that logic in the 1950s, the Supreme Court might never have handed down its Brown ruling, which <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/6-legacy/deliberate-speed.html">ordered public school desegregation</a> “with all deliberate speed.” </p>
<p>The Juliana plaintiffs had also filed an <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/2/23/18234721/childrens-climate-lawsuit-juliana-injunction">urgent motion</a> in the Ninth Circuit for an injunction to block several classes of fossil fuel projects the Trump administration was poised to deploy. An injunction could have pulled an emergency brake on U.S. <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-fossil-fuel-emissions-in-2018-increasing-at-fastest-rate-for-seven-years">fossil fuel emissions</a>, but the majority swept away the request in a footnote – with no discussion. </p>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/01/17/federal-appeals-court-tosses-landmark-youth-climate-lawsuit-against-us-government/">youth will ask</a> the Ninth Circuit for full review. If granted, a panel of 11 judges will have an opportunity to reverse or affirm the panel’s decision to dismiss the case. The court allows this step, known as an “<a href="http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/general/2017/02/10/En_Banc_Summary2.pdf">en banc</a>” review, in very few cases. A majority of judges on the 29-member court would have to vote to accept the case.</p>
<p>The Juliana plaintiffs may defy these slim odds. As Staton observed, the urgency and danger of the climate crisis puts this case in a “category of one.”</p>
<p>This landmark case may also receive further review because of its sweeping implications for the courts’ ability to provide redress for constitutional violations.</p>
<p>No matter what the outcome of the youths’ long-shot appeal to the full court, the losing party will likely seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court. </p>
<h2>Taking a stand</h2>
<p>While the legal destiny of this case remains uncertain, the recent majority opinion, paired with the dissent, may sharpen awareness of what is at stake.</p>
<p>Vivid descriptions of climate catastrophe in both opinions define an inescapable moment of truth for the destiny of the United States – in <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5e22101b7a850a06acdff1bc/1579290663460/2020.01.17+JULIANA+OPINION.pdf">Staton’s words</a>, “an existential crisis to the country’s perpetuity.” </p>
<p>Her dissent presses judges deciding climate cases to choose a side of history, asking: “When the seas envelop our coastal cities, fires and droughts haunt our interiors, and storms ravage everything between, those remaining will ask: Why did so many do so little?”</p>
<p>The 29 federal judges who sit on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will have to answer that question when they decide whether to keep this case alive.</p>
<p><em>This article draws on material <a href="https://theconversation.com/these-kids-and-young-adults-want-their-day-in-court-on-climate-change-105277">published</a> on Oct. 26, 2018.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130162/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Wood has participated in a group of more than 100 law professors signing amicus briefs in support of youth-led climate cases against government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael C. Blumm has participated in a group of more than 100 law professors signing amicus briefs in support of youth-led climate cases against government.</span></em></p>Both opinions the three-judge panel handed down warned of a potential climate catastrophe. Only one judge said the courts have an active role to play in making the government change course.Mary Wood, Philip H. Knight Professor of Law, University of OregonMichael C. Blumm, Jeffrey Bain Scholar & Professor of Law, Lewis & Clark Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1230472019-09-06T14:12:27Z2019-09-06T14:12:27ZChangements climatiques: les plus pauvres seront les plus affectés<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291177/original/file-20190905-175668-1xg6foj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Julia Aylen se promène dans l'eau jusqu'à la taille en transportant son chien pendant qu'elle est secourue pendant l'ouragan Dorian à Freeport, aux Bahamas. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Tim Aylen</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>L'ouragan Dorian a dévasté les Bahamas, <a href="https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2019/09/04/les-secours-sactivent-dans-les-bahamas-ravagees-par-louragan-dorian">faisant une vingtaine de morts,</a> et plaçant la dimension humaine des changements climatiques au premier plan des nouvelles. Cette catastrophe naturelle survient alors qu'on assiste à l'échec continu de nombreux gouvernements à réduire efficacement leurs émissions de gaz à effet de serre. </p>
<p>Deux rapports sur le climat récemment publiés <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/FR/Pages/Home.aspx">par le Conseil des droits de l'Homme des Nations Unies </a> donnent un aperçu des défis futurs. </p>
<p>Un précédent <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Poverty/A_HRC_41_39.pdf">rapport sur les changements climatiques et la pauvreté</a>, publié en juin 2019, a été rédigé par Philip Alston, le rapporteur spécial sur l'extrême pauvreté et les droits humains. Ce rapport attire l'attention sur l'impact disproportionné et dévastateur du changement climatique sur les personnes vivant dans la pauvreté.</p>
<p>Les deux rapports soulignent que les gouvernements doivent agir d'urgence. Nos recherches suggèrent que le droit international relatif aux droits humains peut déjà offrir des outils utiles pour prévenir et réparer les injustices climatiques, y compris les responsabilités des entreprises, telles que renforcées dans le rapport Boyd.</p>
<p>Le rapport Alston classe les impacts du changement climatique sur les droits de l'humain comme un apartheid climatique dans lequel les riches « <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/06/1041261">paieraient pour échapper à la surchauffe, à la faim et aux conflits pendant que le reste du monde souffrirait</a> ». L'ampleur de cette urgence climatique dépend dans une large mesure des efforts déployés par la communauté internationale pour en atténuer les effets. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Un réfugié syrien marche dans la neige dans un camp de peuplement informel au Liban, qui a connu son hiver le plus rigoureux depuis des années.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">UNHCR/Diego Ibarra Sánchez</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Une augmentation de 1,5 degré par rapport aux niveaux préindustriels <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Poverty/A_HRC_41_39.pdf">pourrait exposer 457 millions de personnes supplémentaires à des risques liés au climat</a>, notamment l'élévation du niveau de la mer, les inondations, les sécheresses, les incendies de forêt, les dommages aux écosystèmes, la production alimentaire et la disponibilité de l'eau potable.</p>
<p>Une augmentation de deux degrés mettrait 100 à 400 millions de personnes supplémentaires en danger de souffrir de la faim, et un milliard à deux milliards de personnes n'auraient peut-être pas accès à suffisamment d'eau. Au total, 140 millions de personnes dans les régions les plus pauvres d'Afrique, d'Asie et d'Amérique latine pourraient être déplacées par les changements climatiques d'ici 2050. </p>
<p>Les deux rapports font état de pertes et de dommages permanents qui dépassent nos capacités financières et technologiques. Notre recherche récente documente des incidents existants dans <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2019.1640105">les petits pays vulnérables</a>. Comme nous l'avons conclu dans une autre contribution récente à <em>Politique climatique</em>, les personnes touchées par <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2019.1630353">les changements climatiques provoqués par l'humain chercheront de plus en plus à être dédommagées par ceux qui ont contribué aux dommages subis</a>. </p>
<h2>Échelle d'impact</h2>
<p><a href="https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/NDCStaging/Pages/All.aspx">Les engagements actuels en matière d'atténuation</a> entraîneront toujours une hausse de trois degrés ou plus des températures mondiales. <a href="https://unfccc.int/fr/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/l-accord-de-paris">Les Contributions Déterminées au Niveau national (CDN) à l'Accord de Paris</a> laissent un vide important. <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/">De nombreux pays n'ont pas encore atteint l'objectif qu'ils s'étaient fixé</a> de respecter les engagements qu'ils avaient pris à l'égard des CDN.</p>
<p>L'ampleur de l'impact global, même à 1,5 degré, est sans précédent. Les changements climatiques exacerberont la pauvreté et les inégalités entre pays développés et pays en développement, ainsi qu'à l'intérieur des pays. </p>
<p>L'inégalité de cet impact disproportionné est exacerbée par le fait que ceux qui vivent dans la pauvreté ont contribué - et continueront de contribuer - le moins au problème. La moitié la plus pauvre de la population mondiale n'est responsable que de 10 pour cent des émissions mondiales de gaz à effet de serre. D'autre part, une personne qui se situe dans le haut de l'échelle d'un pour cent (ce qui inclut la plupart des citoyens de la classe moyenne dans les pays développés) est en moyenne responsable de <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/extreme-carbon-inequality">175 fois plus d'émissions qu'une personne dans les 10 pour cent inférieurs</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=39%2C0%2C4368%2C2909&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=39%2C0%2C4368%2C2909&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Des sacs de sable au bord de la mer au Bangladesh afin de protéger les maisons de l'élévation du niveau de la mer due au changement climatique.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>En quête de justice climatique</h2>
<p>La justice climatique a été <a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/news/aosis-chair-urges-increased-focus-on-loss-and-damage-at-cop-24/">un refrain constant de nombreux pays en développement vulnérables</a> pendant les négociations sur le climat. Cependant, à mesure que les pays développés s'enrichissaient en <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Poverty/A_HRC_41_39.pdf">brûlant une quantité irresponsable de combustibles fossiles</a>, le droit international n'a pas réussi à déterminer la responsabilité des pays riches de fournir une aide aux pays en développement. Entre-temps, presque aucune attention n'a été accordée à la compréhension de la manière dont <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2974768">les responsabilités indépendantes des entreprises en matière de respect des droits humains s'appliquent dans le contexte climatique</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LdSzRLJt0TU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Benjamin Schachter, Responsable des droits humains, parle de la façon dont les catastrophes liées au changement climatique affectent la vie des gens.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cependant, s'il est clair que les pays développés sont largement responsables des émissions historiques, certains des principaux émetteurs énumérés dans le rapport novateur de Richard Heede sont <a href="http://climateaccountability.org/pdf/MRR%209.1%20Apr14R.pdf">au Sud</a> comme l'Arabie saoudite, l'Iran, la Chine, l'Inde, le Venezuela, le Koweit, Abou Dhabi et l'Algérie. Leurs activités ont permis d'accumuler une grande richesse pour leurs industries et leur pays (ou du moins pour leurs gouvernements), <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/">mais elle a contribué à des impacts dévastateurs sur le climat pour d'autres </a>.</p>
<p>Le rapport Alston suggère que la seule façon d'aborder les dimensions des droits humains de la crise climatique est que les États réglementent efficacement les entreprises. Ceux qui sont lésés par les changement climatiques pourront poursuivre les entreprises responsables devant les tribunaux. Cela signifie qu'en l'absence de réglementation, les entreprises n'ont pas la responsabilité de réduire leurs émissions.</p>
<p>Pourtant, les « <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/ClimateChange/KeyMessages_on_HR_CC.pdf">Messages clés sur le changement climatique et les droits de l'Homme</a> » de l'ONU stipulent que « les entreprises sont aussi soumises à des devoirs et doivent être responsables de leurs propres impacts climatiques ». </p>
<p>De même, la déclaration de 2018 du Comité des droits économiques, sociaux et culturels sur les changements climatiques note expressément que « <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23691&LangID=E">les personnes morales sont tenues de respecter les droits énoncés dans le Pacte, que les lois nationales existent ou soient pleinement appliquées dans la pratique</a> ».</p>
<p>Diverses autres initiatives se sont attaquées aux responsabilités des entreprises, notamment les <a href="https://climateprinciplesforenterprises.org">Principes de 2018 sur les obligations des entreprises en matière de climat</a>. </p>
<p>Les effets dévastateurs des changements climatiques sur ceux qui vivent déjà dans la pauvreté sont de plus en plus difficiles ou impossibles à éviter. Étant donné que de nombreux États ne respectent pas leurs propres obligations, il est crucial que la responsabilité des entreprises de respecter les droits humains soit prise au sérieux par ceux qui plaident pour une action climatique. Les entreprises, <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23930&LangID=E">en tant que partie prenante de la société</a>, doivent assumer leurs responsabilités afin d'atténuer les impacts climatiques croissants sur ceux qui peuvent le moins se permettre de les supporter. </p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Benjamin reçoit une bourse postdoctorale Killam. Elle est membre du Comité d'application de la CCNUCC (Service de la facilitation) et du Réseau mondial pour l'étude des droits humains et de l'environnement.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara L Seck a reçu des des fonds du Centre pour l'innovation dans la gouvernance internationale pour la recherche sur les responsabilités des entreprises en matière de droits de la personne et de changements climatiques, et du Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada pour la recherche sur les responsabilités des entreprises en matière de droits de la personne. Elle est membre du Réseau mondial pour l'étude des droits humains et de l'environnement.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meinhard Doelle ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Les effets du changement climatique affecteront de manière disproportionnée les plus pauvres de la planète, mettant en danger la vie et la santé de millions de personnes, surtout dans les pays du Sud.Lisa Benjamin, Assistant Professor Lewis & Clark Law School (Fall 2019), Lewis & Clark Meinhard Doelle, Professor, Dalhousie UniversitySara L Seck, Associate Professor, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1203962019-09-04T22:06:39Z2019-09-04T22:06:39ZClimate change, poverty and human rights: an emergency without precedent<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290997/original/file-20190904-175700-gnge0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1298%2C749&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Julia Aylen wades through waist-deep water carrying her pet dog as she is rescued during Hurricane Dorian in Freeport, Bahamas. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Tim Aylen</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Hurricane Dorian has devastated communities in the Bahamas, putting the human dimensions of climate change at the forefront of the news as the world grapples with the ongoing failure of many governments to effectively decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Two recently released climate reports by the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/Welcomepage.aspx">United Nations Human Rights Council</a> provide insights into future challenges. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://undocs.org/en/A/74/161">July 2019 Safe Climate report</a> by David Boyd, the special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, clarifies the obligations of states to protect human rights from climate harms. The report also confirms the existing responsibility of businesses to respect human rights, especially as they pertain to climate change.</p>
<p>An earlier <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Poverty/A_HRC_41_39.pdf">report on climate change and poverty</a>, released in June 2019, was written by Philip Alston, the special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. This report draws attention to the disproportionate and devastating impact of unmitigated climate change on those living in poverty.</p>
<p>Both reports point out that urgent action is needed by governments. Our research suggests that international human rights law may already offer useful tools to prevent and remedy climate injustice, including the responsibilities of business enterprises as reinforced in the Boyd report.</p>
<p>The Alston report classifies the human rights impacts of climate change as a climate apartheid in which the rich would “<a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/06/1041261">pay to escape overheating, hunger and conflict while the rest of the world is left to suffer</a>.” The scale of this climate emergency very much depends on the level of effort the global community puts into mitigation. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290765/original/file-20190903-175673-1bbg3oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Syrian refugee walks through the snow at an informal settlement camp in Lebanon, which experienced its harshest winter in years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">UNHCR/Diego Ibarra Sánchez</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A 1.5-degree increase above pre-industrial levels may expose an additional 457 million people to <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Poverty/A_HRC_41_39.pdf">climate-related risks including sea level rise, flooding, droughts, forest fires, damage to ecosystems, food production and the availability of drinking water</a>.</p>
<p>A two-degree increase would put an additional 100 million to 400 million people at risk of hunger, and one billion to two billion may not have access to adequate water. A total of 140 million people in the poorest parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America could be displaced by climate change by 2050. </p>
<p>Both reports detail incidents of permanent climate loss and damage which exceed our financial and technological capacities to restore. Our recent research documents existing incidents of loss and damage in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2019.1640105">small, vulnerable countries</a>. As we concluded in another recent contribution to <em>Climate Policy</em>, those harmed by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2019.1630353">human-induced climate change will increasingly seek restitution from those who have contributed to the harm suffered</a>. </p>
<h2>Scale of impact</h2>
<p><a href="https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/NDCStaging/Pages/All.aspx">Current mitigation commitments</a> will still result in a three-degree or higher rise in global temperatures. Nationally determined commitments (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement leave a significant gap. Many countries are <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/">not yet on target to meet their existing NDC commitments</a>.</p>
<p>The scale of the overall impact, even at 1.5 degrees, is unprecedented. Climate change will exacerbate existing poverty and inequality between developed and developing countries, and also within countries. </p>
<p>The inequity of this disproportionate impact is exacerbated by the fact that those living in poverty have contributed — and will continue to contribute — the least to the problem. The poorest half of the global population is responsible for only 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, a person in the top one per cent (which includes most middle class citizens in developed countries) is on average responsible for <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/extreme-carbon-inequality">175 times more emissions than a person in the bottom 10 per cent</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=39%2C0%2C4368%2C2909&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=39%2C0%2C4368%2C2909&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285799/original/file-20190726-43126-1n2emtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sandbags on the seashore in Bangladesh to protect houses from rising sea levels due to climate change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Seeking climate justice</h2>
<p>Climate justice has been <a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/news/aosis-chair-urges-increased-focus-on-loss-and-damage-at-cop-24/">a constant refrain by many vulnerable, developing countries</a> during climate negotiations. However, as developed countries grew rich by <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Poverty/A_HRC_41_39.pdf">burning an irresponsible amount of fossil fuels</a>, international human rights law has failed to determine the responsibility of wealthier countries to provide assistance to developing countries for climate action. Meanwhile, almost no attention has been paid to understanding how <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2974768">the independent responsibilities of business to respect human rights apply in the climate context</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LdSzRLJt0TU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Benjamin Schachter, Human Rights Officer, talks about how climate change disasters affect people’s lives.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, while it is clear that developed countries are largely responsible for historic emissions, some of the major emitters listed in Richard Heede’s groundbreaking report are <a href="http://climateaccountability.org/pdf/MRR%209.1%20Apr14R.pdf">located in the global South</a>, including countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, India, Venezuela, Mexico, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Algeria. This activity accumulated vast wealth for these industries and countries (or at least their governments), but has contributed to <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/">devastating climate-induced impacts for others</a>.</p>
<p>The Alston report suggests that the only way to address the human rights dimensions of climate crisis is for states to effectively regulate businesses and for those harmed by climate change to successfully sue responsible companies in court. The implication is that in the absence of regulation, businesses do not have a responsibility to reduce emissions.</p>
<p>Yet, the UN’s “<a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/ClimateChange/KeyMessages_on_HR_CC.pdf">Key Messages on Climate Change and Human Rights</a>” states that “businesses are also duty-bearers and must be accountable for their own climate impacts.” </p>
<p>Similarly, the 2018 statement on climate change of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights expressly notes that “<a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23691&LangID=E">corporate entities are expected to respect Covenant rights regardless of whether domestic laws exist or are fully enforced in practice</a>.”</p>
<p>Various other initiatives have grappled with business responsibilities, including the <a href="https://climateprinciplesforenterprises.org">2018 Principles on Climate Obligations of Enterprises</a>. </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://undocs.org/en/A/74/161">the Safe Climate report</a> goes further, stating that businesses “must adopt human rights policies, conduct human rights due diligence, remedy human rights violations for which they are responsible, and work to influence other actors to respect human rights where relationships of leverage exist.” These responsibilities includes the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from activities, products and services, minimizing emissions from suppliers and ensuring those impacted can access remedies.</p>
<p>The devastating impacts of climate change on those already living in poverty are increasingly difficult or impossible to avoid. Given the failure of many states to meet their own obligations, it is crucial that the responsibility of businesses to respect human rights be taken seriously by those advocating for climate action. Businesses, <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23930&LangID=E">as organs of society</a>, must ratchet up their existing responsibilities to alleviate increasing climate impacts on those who can least afford to bear them. </p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Benjamin receives funding from the Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship. She is a member of the UNFCCC Compliance Committee (Facilitative Branch) and the Global Network for the Study of Human Rights and the Environment. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara L Seck has received funding from the Centre for International Governance Innovation for research on business responsibilities for human rights and climate change, and from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for research on business responsibilities for human rights. She Is a member of the Global Network for the Study of Human Rights and the Environment. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meinhard Doelle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The effects of climate change will disproportionately affect the world’s poorest, risking the lives and health of millions of people located mainly in the Global South.Lisa Benjamin, Assistant Professor Lewis & Clark Law School (Fall 2019), Lewis & Clark Meinhard Doelle, Professor, Dalhousie UniversitySara L Seck, Associate Professor, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1052772018-10-23T10:44:09Z2018-10-23T10:44:09ZThese kids and young adults want their day in court on climate change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241740/original/file-20181022-105776-16faksp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Young people will spend more years living with the consequences of climate policies than their elders.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://t.co/5SAiSqtOiV">Robin Loznak, courtesy of Our Children's Trust</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humanity must rapidly decrease greenhouse gas emissions to avoid catastrophic levels of global warming, <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/news_and_events/30years.shtml">climate scientists</a> have warned for decades. But America’s president has both feet on the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report">fossil fuel accelerator</a>.</p>
<p>One way to force President Donald Trump to put the brakes on his dangerous “<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-energy-dominance-the-right-goal-for-us-policy-79825">energy-dominance</a>” policy is a lawsuit filed on behalf of 21 young people. Using a <a href="http://climatecasechart.com/case/juliana-v-united-states/">barrage of legal motions</a>, the administration’s lawyers are scrambling to keep this case, known as Juliana v. United States, from going to trial.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://law.uoregon.edu/explore/mary-wood">environmental law</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5fHeakAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">professors</a>, we have <a href="http://www.aulawreview.org/no-ordinary-lawsuit-climate-change-due-process-and-the-public-trust-doctrine/">written</a> about this remarkable case and are teaching our students about it. This case positions the climate crisis squarely in the realm of fundamental civil rights jurisprudence, where we believe it belongs. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Our Children’s Trust plaintiff Aji Piper gave a TED talk in which he explains why he and 20 other young people are suing the federal government over climate change.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A long time coming</h2>
<p>Spearheaded by <a href="https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/">Our Children’s Trust</a>, a nonprofit, this lawsuit is pending in a federal court in Oregon. It challenges U.S. energy policies on the basis that they are destabilizing the climate and violating established constitutional rights to personal security. The case originally took aim at the Obama administration when lawyers <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09022017/climate-change-lawsuit-donald-trump-children">first filed the case in 2015</a>. It now targets the Trump administration. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.youthvgov.org/meet-the-youth/">The 21 youth plaintiffs</a>, who currently range in age from 11 to 22 years old, are seeking to require the federal defendants to prepare and implement an enforceable <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/reel.12248">national remedial plan</a> to phase out the excessive greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. </p>
<p>The district court in Oregon issued a <a href="http://blogs2.law.columbia.edu/climate-change-litigation/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/case-documents/2018/20181015_docket-615-cv-1517_opinion-and-order.pdf">decision</a> reaffirming the case’s core <a href="http://blogs2.law.columbia.edu/climate-change-litigation/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/case-documents/2015/20150910_docket-615-cv-1517_complaint.pdf">claims</a> on Oct. 15. </p>
<p>Currently, the fate of this case hangs in the balance due to a motion to <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/news/articles/2018-10-19/us-tries-to-stop-youth-climate-lawsuit-days-before-trial">stop the proceedings</a>, filed by Justice Department lawyers in the U.S. Supreme Court just 11 days before the trial was scheduled to begin on Oct. 29. The <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2018/07/supreme-court-says-kids-can-sue-trump-over-climate-change/">Supreme Court</a> had refused the Trump administration’s prior effort to throw out the lawsuit in July 2018. This time, the court <a href="https://www.apnews.com/da345dcfc68842e59147cc4bf1613e6f">temporarily put the trial on hold</a> the next day. </p>
<p><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/332/2018.10.22.SCOTUS_Brief_FINAL_for_filing.pdf?1540238023">Attorneys for the youth plaintiffs</a> have since filed a response with the Supreme Court to this <a href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/10/06/trump-administration-kids-climate-case/">latest of many attempts by Justice Department lawyers</a> to stop the climate trial from going forward. </p>
<p>But the trial is <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5bd286c44785d33e125cbdff/1540523717271/2018.10.25+Media+Advisory+for+Oct+29.pdf">now in limbo</a> pending a Supreme Court order on the petition. </p>
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<h2>Civil and constitutional rights</h2>
<p>Should the Juliana case succeed, there would be a court-supervised federal plan to shrink the nation’s carbon footprint at a rate necessary to stave off <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/07/world/climate-change-new-ipcc-report-wxc/index.html">disastrous levels of climate change</a>.</p>
<p>Environmental lawsuits <a href="https://billmoyers.com/2014/09/19/natures-trust-new-approach-environmental-law/">typically rely</a> on statutes or regulations. But Juliana is a civil rights case. It bores down to legal bedrock by asserting that people have constitutional rights to inherit a stable climate system capable of sustaining human lives and liberties.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.aulawreview.org/no-ordinary-lawsuit-the-public-trust-and-the-duty-to-confront-climate-disruption-commentary-on-blumm-and-wood/">judicial role</a> in this case is analogous to court-supervised remedies aimed at ending official school segregation after the Supreme Court’s landmark <a href="https://theconversation.com/much-of-what-you-think-you-know-about-linda-brown-a-central-figure-in-brown-v-board-of-education-is-wrong-94082">Brown v. Board of Education</a> ruling.</p>
<p>The district court has rightly described Juliana as “<a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5824e85e6a49638292ddd1c9/1478813795912/Order+MTD.Aiken.pdf">no ordinary lawsuit</a>.” As the youth plaintiffs assert, there remains only “an extremely limited amount of time to preserve a habitable climate system for our country.”</p>
<h2>Role of the courts</h2>
<p>U.S. fossil fuel production surged during <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/09/how-obama-became-oil-president-gas-fracking-drill/">Barack Obama’s presidency</a> even though he did support renewable energy and he engaged in climate-related diplomacy. As the window of opportunity to avert what UN Secretary General António Guterres calls the “<a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2018-09-10/secretary-generals-remarks-climate-change-delivered">direct existential threat</a>” of climate change is about to close under Trump’s leadership at a time when Republicans control both chambers of Congress, checks and balances in government matter more than ever before. </p>
<p>The U.S., after all, has three, not two, branches of government. In the Constitution, the Founders wisely created an independent judiciary and gave it the responsibility of preventing the other branches from trammeling upon the fundamental liberties of citizens.</p>
<p>In the Juliana case, youth plaintiffs are asserting well-established rights under the Constitution’s due process and equal protection clauses to personal security, family autonomy and property. They contend that the government’s fossil fuel policies jeopardize human life, private property and civilization itself.</p>
<p>They further assert rights secured by the <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2572802">public trust doctrine</a>, a principle with ancient roots requiring government to hold and protect essential resources as a sustaining endowment for citizens, in the present and the future.</p>
<p>Oregon District Court <a href="https://www.ord.uscourts.gov/index.php/court-info/judges/judge-aiken-sub/93-honorable-judge-ann-aiken">Judge Ann Aiken</a> issued a <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2016/11/the_kids_lawsuit_over_climate_change_is_our_best_hope_now.html">landmark decision</a> in 2016 upholding both the Constitution’s due process rights and public trust rights, allowing the case to proceed.</p>
<p>At that time, she declared, “I have no doubt that the right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life is fundamental to a free and ordered society.” Numerous <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11072018/joseph-stiglitz-kids-climate-change-lawsuit-global-warming-costs-economic-impact">world-class experts plan to testify</a> during the trial in her courtroom to explain the grave threats posed by Trump’s energy policies.</p>
<h2>Not just here</h2>
<p>Judicial alarm over governmental failure to confront the climate emergency is growing around the world, resulting in decisions in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/07/pakistan-high-court-comes-to-defence-of-climate?CMP=share_btn_tw">Pakistan</a>, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/09/dutch-appeals-court-upholds-landmark-climate-change-ruling">Netherlands</a>, and <a href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/04/05/colombia-amazon-climate-change-deforestation/">Colombia</a> that ordered the authorities to act. These cases are all based on similar legal arguments: that governments have an obligation to protect their citizens from climate change.</p>
<p>A Dutch appeals court, for example, has ordered the Dutch government to cut emissions by <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/dutch-court-upholds-ruling-ordering-cut-in-emissions-1.3657599">25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020</a>. </p>
<p>In trying to get the case thrown out, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/412045-trump-admin-again-asks-supreme-court-to-stop-youth-climate-lawsuit">Justice Department lawyers</a> for the <a href="https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/federal-proceedings/">Trump and Obama administrations</a> alike have contested the <a href="http://climatecasechart.com/case/juliana-v-united-states/">jurisdiction of the district court</a> over these claims. The Trump lawyers also argue that a 50-day trial would impose an undue burden and cause irreparable harm.</p>
<p>But for the Supreme Court to stop the case on the eve of trial would disregard the standard judicial process. The courts use trials to develop a full record to determine constitutional violations.</p>
<p>In our view, following the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-gorsuchs-conservative-supreme-court-means-for-workers-76196">controversies</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/brett-kavanaugh-56609">turmoil surrounding Trump’s Supreme Court nominees</a>, the credibility of the judiciary itself is fragile. <a href="https://www.youthvgov.org/trial">Rallies</a> planned around the country in support of the litigation could soon turn to protests against a perceived abrogation of fair judicial process if the case does not go to trial.</p>
<p>We think that this climate lawsuit should force everyone to see what a fleeting – and terrifying – moment in history this is. With humanity’s very ability to survive on the planet hanging in the balance, the stakes could not be higher. </p>
<p><em>This article draws on material originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com/earth-on-the-docket-why-obama-cant-ignore-this-climate-lawsuit-by-americas-youth-69193">Dec. 15, 2016</a>. It was updated to indicate that the Supreme Court stay has led to the trial’s indefinite postponement.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105277/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Wood has participated in a group of more than 60 law professors signing amicus briefs in support of youth-led climate cases against government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael C. Blumm has participated in a group of more than 60 law professors signing amicus briefs in support of youth-led climate cases against government.</span></em></p>The Trump administration is trying to spike a lawsuit against the US government arguing that there’s a constitutional right to a stable climate.Mary Wood, Philip H. Knight Professor of Law, University of OregonMichael C. Blumm, Jeffrey Bain Scholar & Professor of Law, Lewis & Clark Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/742942017-03-31T02:00:42Z2017-03-31T02:00:42ZThe death penalty is getting more and more expensive. Is it worth it?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163370/original/image-20170330-4557-1rr8vov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Alabama's lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, 2002.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Dave Martin</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recently, <a href="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty">several states</a>, including <a href="http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/fate-death-penalty-set-heat-nevada-legislature">Nevada</a>, have introduced bills that cite <a href="https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/17%20Regular/firs/HB0072.PDF">legal costs</a> as one of the reasons for ending the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/death_penalty">death penalty</a>.</p>
<p>National trends show the death penalty is being sought and imposed <a href="http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/2016YrEnd.pdf">less frequently</a>. There is also ample evidence that the costs for seeking and administering the death penalty have <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/12/17/six-reasons-the-death-penalty-is-becoming-more-expensive#.i1GPfo7RV">increased significantly</a> since the 1980s.</p>
<p>As our recent studies have revealed, this is the case in both <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2926131">Oregon</a> and <a href="http://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1832&context=sjsj">Washington</a>. The findings clearly show that the costs for death penalty trials and appeals for both Oregon and Washington have increased significantly over time. </p>
<p>Understanding all of the reasons why costs have increased is complicated. But much of the cost increases can be attributed to changes in <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/1606/death-penalty.aspx">public opinion</a>, <a href="http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/death-penalty.html">the law</a> and in the advancement of <a href="http://www.fjc.gov/public/pdf.nsf/lookup/SciMan3D01.pdf/$file/SciMan3D01.pdf">scientific evidence and methods</a>, all of which impact legal practice regarding death penalty cases. </p>
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<h2>Putting a price on the death penalty</h2>
<p>Until recently, attempts to measure the fiscal impact of the death penalty were rare. </p>
<p>The first comprehensive attempt to measure the economic impact of capital sentencing policy was conducted in <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/app/abstractdb/AbstractDBDetails.aspx?id=88172">New York in 1982</a>. However, the bulk of state-level economic cost studies of the death penalty have taken place over the last 15 years. Many of these reports were spurred by budget shortfalls in the wake of the <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/research/economy/chart-book-the-legacy-of-the-great-recession">great recession</a>.</p>
<p>Over the course of our research, we have reviewed numerous <a href="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/research-death-penalty#Cost">state-level economic cost studies</a> representing thousands of death penalty cases nationwide. Although the findings from these studies varied, they all showed that cases where the death penalty is sought incur significantly higher costs than similar cases where the death penalty is not sought. </p>
<p>This is also the case for Oregon and Washington, where the average death penalty case costs more than the average non-death penalty aggravated murder case, by US$1,035,000 and $1,193,000, respectively. And both of these figures include the costs for life without the possibility of parole. </p>
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<p>Moreover, the rates for post-conviction reversal in both Oregon and Washington are extremely high – 79 percent and 75 percent, respectively. That means that only a handful of cases ever advance to the point of execution – and that point does not even currently exist, as both states have moratoriums in place.</p>
<p>The evidence is clear that maintaining the capital punishment pipeline costs taxpayers more money. Many states, such as <a href="http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/files/pdf/The-Economic-Impact-of-the-Death-Penalty-on-the-State-of-Nebraska.pdf">Nebraska</a>, <a href="http://aclu-co.org/organizations-call-on-co-to-end-unjust-expensive-death-penalty/">Colorado</a>, <a href="http://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/executing-justice-a-look-at-the-cost-of-pennsylvanias-death-penalty#.V2gBuuYrLOQ">Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ag-ferguson-proposes-bipartisan-bill-end-washington-s-death-penalty">Washington</a> and <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2016/11/how_much_does_the_oregon_death.html">Oregon</a>, have highlighted these extreme costs as one of their <a href="http://time.com/deathpenalty/">reasons</a> to seek an end to the death penalty. </p>
<h2>Why is the death penalty more expensive?</h2>
<p>Some people may recognize that seeking and imposing the death penalty is more expensive, but do not understand why. </p>
<p>The U.S. Constitution protects basic rights through the criminal justice process, including equal treatment under the law and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment. Ever since <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/408/238.html">Furman v. Georgia</a> in 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that additional safeguards are necessary to protect these rights in death penalty cases. </p>
<p>In holding that the death penalty, as it was applied at the time, violated the the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, the Furman Court was confronted with evidence that these death sentences were imposed in arbitrary, capricious and discriminatory ways. Justice Stewart captured the sentiment of the Court in his concurring opinion, observing that “death sentences are cruel and unusual in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and unusual.” </p>
<p>A few years later in <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/428/153.html">Gregg v. Georgia</a>, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Georgia death penalty statute that became the model for the rest of the country. In Gregg, the Court found that the Georgia statute, by narrowing the class of crimes and criminals for which the death penalty could be sought to the “worst of the worst,” provided a sufficient safeguard against the arbitrariness that led to the Furman decision.</p>
<p>The Gregg decision introduced a requirement for bifurcated trials, meaning the guilt and penalty phases are separate. It also required that jurors in capital cases be given guidance for jury instructions regarding how to approach the decision of whether or not to recommend a death sentence. Finally, unlike other criminal cases in which appeals begin in the lower appellate courts, the statute approved in Gregg provided for an automatic appeal of any case resulting in a death sentence by the state supreme court. This was in addition to the regular appeals at the lower courts. </p>
<p>Other <a href="http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/2011_build/death_penalty_representation/2003guidelines.authcheckdam.pdf">standards</a> and guidelines have been adopted by public defense systems, the American Bar Association, prosecution and courts. For instance, most states require that two qualified defense attorneys are assigned per defendant in capital cases. Consultation with experts in the collection and presentation of mitigation evidence and evaluation of defendants by mental health professionals are generally required as well.</p>
<p>Jury selection is also a much more involved process. Given the length, complexity and unique juror qualification requirements of death penalty cases, pools of prospective jurors can reach into the hundreds. Therefore, selection in capital cases takes much longer to complete than in non-capital cases. </p>
<p>The overall increase in costs for death penalty cases reflects these procedural requirements. This results in the differences in how death penalty cases proceed through the investigation, pretrial, trial, sentencing and appeals phases, each of which is considerable more complex and time consuming than in non-capital cases. </p>
<p>Some people may also make the mistake of attributing the high costs solely to defendants’ appeals, and to the defense for pursuing them. It is indeed a fact that litigating appeals in death penalty cases costs more than in non-capital cases because they are far more complicated and require more prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges to be involved. </p>
<p>However, we have discovered that every phase of an average death penalty case – not just the appeals – takes more people and <a href="http://tcadp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/cost-sheet-final1.pdf">more effort</a>. In Oregon, for instance, there are at least two times the number of hearings and court filings in aggravated murder cases where the death penalty is sought than in similar cases where a death sentence is not sought. That leads to a lot more time and expense. </p>
<h2>Are economic costs the only consideration?</h2>
<p>Courts around the country as well as the U.S. Supreme Court have <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/93-7054.ZA1.html">struggled</a> with the application of the death penalty over the last 40 years. The process of judicial review has relied heavily on the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/eighth_amendment">Eighth Amendment’s</a> cruel and unusual, culpability and proportionality considerations, which have involved issues such as <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-8452.ZS.html">cognitive disability</a>, <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/543/551.html">age</a> and <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/433/584.html">race</a>.</p>
<p>Further, there is no credible evidence that supports the death penalty as a <a href="http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7323&context=jclc">deterrent</a>. There are considerations to be made in regard to the personal needs of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/01/31/a-priest-believed-no-one-deserves-the-death-penalty-not-even-the-man-accused-of-murdering-him/?utm_term=.7066f191cea7">friends</a> and <a href="http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/03/17/victims-mother-says-she-supports-ayalas-decision-not-to-seek-death-penalty-for-markeith-loyd">family members</a> of victims as well as their <a href="http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001005">role in the legal process</a>. There is mounting empirical evidence of disproportionate application of the penalty based on <a href="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/podcast/audio/Race.mp3">race</a>, <a href="http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4500&context=fss_papers">economic inequality</a> and <a href="http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/TwoPercentReport.pdf">geographic location</a>. </p>
<p>Indeed, the majority of financial costs to taxpayers are <a href="http://www.bu.edu/law/journals-archive/bulr/documents/smith_001.pdf">geographically limited</a> to counties. Economic costs are important when thinking beyond the cost and effort in criminal cases, to how costs factor into <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-governor-replaces-markeith-loyd-prosecutor-over-death-penalty-protest-n734551">prosecutorial decision-making</a>. If the high cost of the death penalty discourages prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, then that raises serious <a href="http://www.opb.org/radio/programs/thinkoutloud/segment/washington-governor-jay-inslee-death-penalty/">equal justice</a> concerns. </p>
<p>The brunt of the financial liability in most death penalty cases rests at the county level. Many district attorneys must also consider the financial hardship that seeking death might place on their jurisdictions. Some might find it untenable, partly because of the economic costs. </p>
<p>There have been <a href="http://fairpunishment.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FPP-TooBroken.pdf">recent</a> <a href="http://fairpunishment.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/FPP-TooBroken_II.pdf">studies</a>, including our own, which show that only a small number of counties are active in pursuing death sentences. For Oregon and Washington, these counties have larger populations, larger tax bases and increased resources. </p>
<p>For example, three recent cases in <a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/abolish-the-death-penalty/">King County</a>, Washington cost taxpayers over $15 million. It is very likely that other counties in Washington would not have the resources to pursue the death penalty if these cases arose in their counties. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.innocenceproject.org/the-innocent-and-the-death-penalty/">Innocence</a>, especially considering the finality of execution, has been a salient talking point for those against the death penalty. Now, economic costs have also become a prominent consideration in critical assessments of capital punishment systems. As we and others have found, seeking the death penalty is not only a fraught and often futile endeavor, but an expensive one. </p>
<p><em>The disclosures have been updated to reflect more detail.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74294/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter A. Collins received funding from the Oregon Justice Resource Center for the Oregon death penalty cost study and American Civil Liberties Union of Washington Foundation for the Washington death penalty study.
.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aliza Kaplan received funding from the Oregon Justice Resource Center for the Oregon death penalty cost study.</span></em></p>In Oregon and Washington, the costs of seeking and administering the death penalty have increased significantly since the 1980s.Peter A. Collins, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Seattle UniversityAliza Kaplan, Professor and Director, Criminal Justice Reform Clinic, Lewis & Clark Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/691932016-12-16T03:20:31Z2016-12-16T03:20:31ZEarth on the docket: Why Obama can’t ignore this climate lawsuit by America’s youth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150030/original/image-20161214-18876-13p89eo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A group of youths are suing the federal government for action on climate change using a novel legal approach.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, Photo by Robin Loznak, courtesy of Our Children's Trust</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At a time when humanity must reverse course before plunging over a <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/climate-change-game-over-global-warming-climate-sensitivity-seven-degrees-a7407881.html">climate cliff</a>, the American public has elected a president who seems to have both feet on the fossil fuel accelerator. If there is a mechanism to force the Trump administration to put the brakes on dirty energy policy, a <a href="https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/">lawsuit</a> brought by 21 young people against the Obama administration may hold the key. </p>
<p>Two days after the presidential election, on Nov. 10, a federal district court in Oregon issued a path-breaking <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5824e85e6a49638292ddd1c9/1478813795912/Order+MTD.Aiken.pdf">decision</a> in Juliana v. U.S. declaring that youth – indeed, all citizens – hold constitutional rights to a stable climate system.</p>
<p>The youth, aged nine to 20 years old, seek a court-supervised plan to lower carbon dioxide emissions at a rate set by a <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0081648&type=printable">science-based prescription</a>. The judicial role is analogous to court-supervised remedies protecting equal opportunity for students after Brown v. Board of Education.</p>
<p>The Juliana v. U.S. decision could be a legal game-changer, as it <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/57a35ac5ebbd1ac03847eece/1470323398409/YouthAmendedComplaintAgainstUS.pdf">challenges</a> the entire fossil-fuel policy of the United States. </p>
<h2>Cruel irony</h2>
<p>Environmental lawsuits typically rely on statutes or regulations. But Juliana is a human rights case that bores down to legal bedrock by asserting constitutional rights to inherit a stable climate system. </p>
<p>The court, which ruled the suit can proceed to trial, rightly described the case as a “civil rights action” – an action “of a different order than the typical environmental case” – because it alleges that government actions “have so profoundly damaged our home planet that they threaten plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to life and liberty.” The litigation, variously called “a ”<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/11/13/lawsuit-could-save-planet">ray of hope</a>,“ a legal ”<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/12/opinions/sutter-julia-olson-climate-kids-profile/">long shot</a>“ and a ”<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/05/an-inconvenient-lawsuit-teenagers-take-global-warming-to-the-courts/256903/">Hail Mary pass</a>,“ yielded its groundbreaking decision not a moment too soon.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149730/original/image-20161212-26063-17cd7s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149730/original/image-20161212-26063-17cd7s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149730/original/image-20161212-26063-17cd7s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149730/original/image-20161212-26063-17cd7s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149730/original/image-20161212-26063-17cd7s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149730/original/image-20161212-26063-17cd7s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149730/original/image-20161212-26063-17cd7s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149730/original/image-20161212-26063-17cd7s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At a rally for action on climate in 2014. The decisions made by adults will have broad implications for the planet today’s youth will live on as adults.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/40969298@N05/15341639492/in/album-72157647481551918/">Joe Brusky/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The year 2016 is the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/18/2016-locked-into-being-hottest-year-on-record-nasa-says">hottest year on record</a>, and Arctic sea ice has hit its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/arctic-sea-ice-is-declining-when-it-should-be-growing-2016-11">lowest recorded level</a>. Heated ocean waters <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/07/six-percent-of-worlds-coral-could-be-lost-in-current-mass-bleaching-say-scientists">threaten coral reefs</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ocean-is-losing-its-breath-and-climate-change-is-making-it-worse-66192">marine ecosystems</a>. </p>
<p>To have any hope of reversing or stalling these effects of climate change, the world must restrict fossil fuel production and ultimately switch to <a href="http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/february/fifty-states-renewables-022414.html">safe renewable energy</a>. Even continued production solely from currently operating oil and gas fields <a href="http://priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2016/09/OCI_the_skys_limit_2016_FINAL_2.pdf">will push the planet to 1.5 degrees Celsius</a> over preindustrial temperatures, beyond the aspirational limit set by the global Paris Agreement on climate change.</p>
<p>President-elect Trump, who notoriously claimed that climate change was a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/world/asia/china-trump-climate-change.html">hoax</a> perpetrated by the Chinese, has said he plans to <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/15/trump-can-easily-reverse-obama-fast-track-keystone/">immediately approve</a> the <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-fossil-fuel-resistance-20130411">highly contentious</a> Keystone Pipeline, <a href="http://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/11/14/13582562/trump-gop-climate-environmental-policy">open public land to drilling</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/11/11/trump-has-vowed-to-kill-the-clean-power-plan-heres-how-he-might-and-might-not-succeed/?utm_term=.e6f480a7d1a2">rescind Obama’s Clean Power Plan</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/22/nasa-earth-donald-trump-eliminate-climate-change-research">eliminate NASA’s climate research</a>, and <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-36401174">withdraw</a> from the Paris climate agreement. He <a href="http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501451368/here-is-what-donald-trump-wants-to-do-in-his-first-100-days">intends</a> to spur production of US$50 trillion worth of shale, oil, coal and natural gas.</p>
<p>The 70-year-old president-elect will not live long enough to <a href="https://theconversation.com/dear-mr-trump-climate-policy-puts-lives-in-your-hands-69111">witness the worst consequences</a> of rapidly expanding fossil fuel development. The cruel irony for young people is that actions taken <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/climate-change-effects-president-trump-519885">during Trump’s time in office</a> will lock in a future of severe disruptions <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2016/11/the_kids_lawsuit_over_climate_change_is_our_best_hope_now.html">within their projected lifetimes</a> – and sea level rise that could make <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/mar/22/sea-level-rise-james-hansen-climate-change-scientist">coastal cities uninhabitable</a>. James Hansen, formerly the nation’s chief climate scientist at NASA, <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5785741a29687ff48a7c1375/1468363803338/Hansen+Amicus+.pdf">has warned</a>, "Failure to act with all deliberate speed…functionally becomes a decision to eliminate the option of preserving a habitable climate system.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149737/original/image-20161212-26074-1k9w5gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149737/original/image-20161212-26074-1k9w5gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149737/original/image-20161212-26074-1k9w5gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149737/original/image-20161212-26074-1k9w5gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149737/original/image-20161212-26074-1k9w5gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149737/original/image-20161212-26074-1k9w5gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149737/original/image-20161212-26074-1k9w5gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149737/original/image-20161212-26074-1k9w5gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sea levels are projected to rise at least three feet, and perhaps much more, in the lifetime of children today, inundating some locations and making storm surges more dangerous. The Juliana lawsuit and others like it argue that citizens have a right to a stable climate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/slr">NOAA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Constitutional argument</h2>
<p>For decades, the political branches have promoted fossil fuel consumption despite longstanding knowledge about the climate danger. President Obama ignored <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/jan/01/scentist-letter-hansen-barack-obama">warnings</a> when he charted <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/09/how-obama-became-oil-president-gas-fracking-drill">a disastrous course</a> of increased fossil fuel production early in office. In a last moment of opportunity to avert <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-climate-tipping-points-are-and-how-they-could-suddenly-change-our-planet-49405">climate tipping points</a>, Americans should recall an elementary school civics lesson: The United States has three, not two, branches of government. The founders wisely vested an independent judiciary with the responsibility of upholding the fundamental liberties of citizens against infringement by the other branches. </p>
<p>As the president-elect promises to ramp up fossil fuel production and dismantle Obama’s recent climate measures, and with no obvious statutory law to prevent him from doing so, only a <a href="http://billmoyers.com/2014/09/19/natures-trust-new-approach-environmental-law/">fundamental rights approach</a> carries any hope of trumping Trump.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149734/original/image-20161212-26070-eo01b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149734/original/image-20161212-26070-eo01b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149734/original/image-20161212-26070-eo01b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149734/original/image-20161212-26070-eo01b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149734/original/image-20161212-26070-eo01b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1045&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149734/original/image-20161212-26070-eo01b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1045&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149734/original/image-20161212-26070-eo01b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1045&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The principle of public trust law, dating to the time of Roman Emperor Justinian, holds that natural resources, including the sea, the shores of the sea, the air and running water, are common to everyone. It has since become part of U.S. jurisprudence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justinian_I#/media/File:Mosaic_of_Justinianus_I_-_Basilica_San_Vitale_(Ravenna).jpg">Petar Milošević/wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Juliana, the youth asserted their fundamental rights under the Constitution’s substantive due process clause and the public trust doctrine. This is an <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2572802">ancient principle</a> requiring government to hold and protect essential resources as a sustaining endowment for citizens. They contended that government infringed on their rights to life, liberty, and property by promoting fossil fuel policies that threaten runaway planetary heating – thereby jeopardizing human life, private property and civilization itself.</p>
<p>Judge Ann Aiken’s Juliana decision in November upheld both public trust and substantive due process rights under the Constitution and allowed the case to go forward. “I have no doubt that the right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life is fundamental to a free and ordered society,” she wrote, explaining that public trust rights, which “both predated the Constitution and are secured by it,” cannot be “legislated away.”</p>
<p>The opinion is bound to have a rippling effect. The case is actually part of a wave of atmospheric trust litigation (ATL) <a href="http://bollier.org/climate-activisms-daring-new-approach-atmospheric-trust-litigation">cases and petitions</a> across the U.S. and in other countries. Launched by the group <a href="https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/">Our Children’s Trust</a> in 2011, the legal campaign asserts youths’ rights to a stable climate system and seeks court-supervised climate recovery plans.</p>
<p>Recent victories in <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/18052016/massachusetts-high-court-climate-change-youth-case-greenhouse-gas-emissions">Massachusetts</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/07/pakistan-high-court-comes-to-defence-of-climate?CMP=share_btn_tw">Pakistan</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/24/dutch-government-ordered-cut-carbon-emissions-landmark-ruling">the Netherlands</a> and <a href="https://digital.law.washington.edu/dspace-law/bitstream/handle/1773.1/1607/6WJELP633.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y">Washington</a> state indicate <a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/for-the-kids-suing-the-feds-over-climate-change-things-are-going-well-so-far/">widespread judicial concern</a> over the political branches’ failure to confront the climate emergency. The youth plaintiffs hope that the dominoes continue to <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-teen-agers-suing-over-climate-change">fall in their favor</a> in time to thwart climate catastrophe.</p>
<p>As ATL moves forward globally, the Juliana case will proceed to trial as early as next summer or fall. The plaintiffs’ attorneys aim to show the government’s deliberate indifference to mounting climate danger. </p>
<p>Already dubbed “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/12/01/trump-could-face-the-biggest-trial-of-the-century-over-climate-change/?utm_term=.d4aabcab72d3">the trial of the century</a>,” this is the first time that U.S. fossil fuel policy will confront climate science in court. Any government denial of climate change will have to confront the scrutiny of a fact-finding judge. </p>
<h2>Consent degree from Obama?</h2>
<p>The case also offers President Obama a fleeting opportunity. </p>
<p>Five days after the election, Secretary of State Kerry <a href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2016/11/13/John-Kerry-US-to-advance-climate-change-pact-before-Donald-Trump-takes-office/2811479058905/">proclaimed</a> that President Obama would use his last days in office to “do everything possible to meet our responsibility to future generations to be able to address this threat to life itself on the planet.” </p>
<p>If so, the most viable way might be to offer a partial settlement of the Juliana case before going to trial. One form of settlement could be an enforceable consent decree consisting of interim steps to halt further fossil-fuel mining and infrastructure development. Such a settlement would help secure Obama’s measures to <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/11/18/barack-obama-arctic-drilling/">close the Arctic to drilling</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/01/14/obama-administration-set-to-announce-moratorium-on-some-new-federal-coal-leases/?utm_term=.4b06a465bf32">halt coal leasing on federal lands</a>.</p>
<p>Young Americans could use a down payment on the colossal climate mortgage hanging over their future. And President Obama could use a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/president-obama-our-future-is-on-the-line/2016/12/02/8765535e-b8b1-11e6-939c-91749443c5e5_video.html">climate legacy</a>. It may be worth his time now to sit down with the “<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/138775/plucky-millennials-racing-save-world-donald-trump">plucky millennials</a>” who sued him to save the planet – before his time in office runs out.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69193/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Legal scholars explain why a lawsuit by 21 young people against the US government, arguing for a constitutional right to a stable climate, is such a powerful idea.Mary Wood, Philip H. Knight Professor of Law, University of OregonCharles W. Woodward IV, Post Graduate Research Fellow, University of OregonMichael C. Blumm, Jeffrey Bain Scholar & Professor of Law, Lewis & Clark Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.