CLIMATE JUSTICE: PROGRAMME. Lawyers and campaigners around the world encouraging, supporting, and tracking enforcement of the law to combat climate change.
The Climate Justice Programme (CJP) in its own words: “The Climate Justice Programme (CJP) is an independent non-profit program that uses the law to expose environmental and human rights issues relating to climate change. We are a group of lawyers, academics and campaigners who support the development and execution of strategic initiatives to address global climate change. We seek to raise awareness and engagement in climate law through long standing global networks of lawyers and international organisations. The CJP is the only program globally that has been established with the sole purpose to work collaboratively with lawyers, campaigners and scientists in this innovative field” (see: http://www.climatejustice.org.au/ ).
Climate Justice Programme: “Climate change impacts are already affecting people and the planet. And the science shows it will get far, far worse. The biggest impacts will be on the lives and livelihoods of the poor and developing countries, especially small island states. The biggest culprits are the rich and the developed countries. Progress has been made: we have international agreements; more resources for scientific research, leading to stronger evidence; some policy advances; a change in industry rhetoric; and a certain increase in public awareness. But all this falls far short of what is needed. At the heart of the problem is the production and use of fossil fuel – particularly the emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of coal, oil and gas. Developed countries have now accepted legally-binding emissions targets in the Kyoto Protocol, but these are widely recognised to be seriously inadequate, and the US has opted out. As Klaus Töpfer says, there are laws in place now that can address this. And over the last few years, many kinds of legal action have been taken around the world to enforce the law to combat climate change. A range of national and international legal theories have been invoked by dozens of different organisations, communities and individuals, such as human rights law, constitutional law, emission control regulation, endangered species protection, freedom of information and international legal obligations. Judgments and administrative decisions have begun to come through” The Climate Justice Programme seeks to encourage enforcement of the law to combat climate change and on this website we aim to provide information and materials on the legal actions we are aware of, and on other aspects of climate change law” [1].
[1]. Climate Justice Programme, “Climate Justice: enforcing climate change law”: http://www.climatelaw.org/ .