Pacific Island teens petition UN to act quickly to combat climate change

CHILDREN VS. CLIMATE CRISIS

From left: Litokne Kabua,  David Ackley III, Carlos Manuel and Ranton Anjain

Four Pacific Island teenagers joined Swedish 16-year old  activist Greta Thunberg and 12 other youth who have filed a complaint on the climate crisis to the United Nations.

Their  unprecedented petition, to the U.N Committee on the Rights of the Child (C.R.C) is attempting to hold Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Turkey accountable for their climate crisis inaction.

It is the first time children have filed a formal complaint under the U.N.C.R.C. The petitioners are between ages eight and 18. The youngest is Ellen-Anne from Sweden.

Carlos Manuel from Palau, and Marshallese Litokne Kabua, David Ackley II and Ranton Anjain have joined children from ten other countries in this landmark case. Their two nations are among the countries already being impacted by climate change. Strong Pacific typhoons have caused some islands to be abandoned by its residents. Rising sea levels caused by melting polar caps are causing island beaches to disappear.

The other children named in the petition are Chiara Sacchi (Argentina); Catarina Lorenzo (Brazil); Iris Duquesne (France); Raina Ivanova (Germany); Ridhima Pandey (India); Deborah Adegbile (Nigeria); Ayakha Melithafa (South Africa); Greta Thunberg and Ellen-Anne (Sweden); Raslen Jbeili (Tunisia); and Carl Smith and Alexandria Villaseñor (USA).

The petition was part of a week-long series of global actions by young people to exert pressure on the world leaders to act against climate change, which the vast majority of the world's scientists have concluded is hastened and exacerbated by manmade pollutants. The week was launched with worldwide demonstrations attracting 4-million protesters in 150 countries.

CHILDREN VS. CLIMATE CHANGE

Carlos Manuel of Palau introduces himself at a press conference at the United Nations.

“I want bigger countries to know that our small island nations are the most vulnerable countries to be affected by climate change," said Manuel, who immigrated to Palau from the Philippines.

“Our homes are slowly being swallowed up by the ocean – the places where memories were made, where trust and respect are gained, the places where we used to have fun and enjoy, those places are slowly disappearing,” said the 17-year old.

Dramatically increasing temperatures in the Marshall Islands have brought frequent dengue fever outbreaks, and the government has declared a state of emergency twice in the last two years. 

Marshall Islander Kabua is 16, and his home ijust two minutes away from the ocean is under threat from sea level rise. 

“[Climate change] is the first thing you see when you go outside. It is happening a lot more, a lot more … you cannot ignore it," said the teenager.

“We are on the front lines of the climate crisis and I am here to stop that.”

The five countries named in the 101 page petition -- Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, and Turkey -- are accused of violating the children’s right to life, health, and the rights of indigenous children’s right to culture. 

They allege each of the accused countries is knowingly causing and perpetuating the climate crisis, and that they have known about it for decades. Every country except the United States has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Of those countries, 45 agreed to an additional protocol that allows children to petition the UN directly about treaty violations.

“Despite their decades-long knowledge, each respondent has breached its human rights duties by causing and perpetuating the climate crisis and undermining international cooperation,” the petition states.

The complaint goes to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. The group is made up of 18 independent child rights experts. The Committee will determine if the complaint is admissible and, if so, will gather responses from the countries named in the complaint. The Committee will then make recommendations to those nations.

While the recommendations are not legally binding, these nations have committed to follow the recommendations. The obligations spelled out under the Convention on the Rights of the Child are binding.

Thunberg addressed the UN General Assembly last Monday (Sept. 23) in an emotional speech blasting the adults representing the UN's member countries.

"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!" said Thurberg.

"You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you," she said.

“We are here as victims of the pollution that has been carelessly dumped into our lands, air and sea for generations, and as children whose rights are being violated. Today, we are fighting back.” said 14-year old Alexandria Villaseñor,  co-founder of U.S Youth Climate Strike and founder of Earth Uprising.

In just five years, 16-year-old Ackley III has seen his home town Uliga in Majuro change dramatically. He said he and his family talk about climate change all the time, and he worries about being forced to move away.

“I feel lost. I like to keep my mind off [it] because it scares me, but it still pops up a couple of times a day.”

Dramatically increasing temperatures in the Marshall Islands have brought frequent dengue fever outbreaks, and the government has declared a state of emergency twice in the last two years.

As a kid who grew up swimming and fishing in the ocean, 17-year-old Mr. Anjain said he is worried for the next generation of Marshallese, and what experiences they will have.

“I don’t want to be underwater,” said 17-year-old Anjain.

“I want future generations to experience what I experience, I want them to experience living on Ebeye. It still saddens me – I want them to experience the same things I did.”

Another round of protests is planned for Friday (Sept. 27).

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