When Nations' Decisions Cause or Intensify Environmental Damage In Ways that Hurt Humans

Monday, January 3, 2005 12:40 PM PST

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/leavitt/20040103.html

FindLaw's Writ - Leavitt: When Nations' Decisions Cause or Intensify
Environmental Damage In Ways that Hurt Humans, Is
FindLaw Mon, 03 Jan 2005 0:06 AM PST
When Nations' Decisions Cause or Intensify Environmental Damage In
Ways that Hurt Humans, Is There An International Legal Remedy?

[excerpt]

In mid-December 2004, the Inuit -- a group of about 150,000
seal-hunting peoples in Canada and Alaska -- announced that they plan
to seek an important ruling from the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights. They will ask the Commission to rule that the United
States, by contributing substantially to global warming, is
threatening their very existence. As part of their campaign, the
Inuit will invite the Washington D.C.-based Commission to visit the
Arctic Circle to see the devastation being caused by global warming.

In particular, the Inuit will allege that Washington is violating
their human rights by repudiating the Kyoto Protocol, and refusing to
cut U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, which make up fully 25% of the
world's total. The Kyoto Protocol - which will take effect in
February, and has been accepted by most industrialized nations -- is
the first international agreement to reduce greenhouse gases, and is
an addendum to an earlier convention on climate change. The United
States refuses to comply with the Protocol because it complains that
it will hurt the economy and that it unfairly exempts large
developing countries.

In this column, I will place the Inuit's claims in context -
explaining how they fit into the Inter-American human rights system.
I will also explore a few of the possible spin-offs of the Inuit's
campaign. Finally, I will describe how the legal framework
underpinning the Inuit's arguments might have implications for
thinking about the recent tragic disasters in South Asia.
--
- -

GEORGE LESSARD
Information & Media Specialist

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