A Planet Under Siege: The Role of Environmental Courts and the Global Judicial Institute for the Environment was a workshop event held as part of the 2016 IUCN Congress on September 4, 2016.
The session discussed climate change and the loss of biological diversity as the two biggest issues that judges worldwide are currently facing. The session also focused on the significant roles the newly-established environmental courts and the Global Judicial Institute for the Environment (GJIE) play in enforcing environmental law.
Photo Credit: Nick Bryner
The workshop began with a discussion of how indigenous people are the ones that bear the burden of environmental problems. Unfortunately, indigenous people have little to no access to justice. The GJIE will not be successful if they do not consider the perspective of indigenous people. The most difficult issue for judges is addressing the needs of these people. Judges are trained to deal with people who have rights and have the power to exercise those rights. Indigenous people, however, have rights but lack the power to go to courts and exercise these rights.
Throughout the workshop, an extensive list of professionals and well-established people touched upon a variety of aspects of environmental law. The session was a whirlwind of environmental issues. Topics ranged from the importance of ecological sustainability as a foundational value, to the role of ethics in environmental law, to the role that emerging generations must play in achieving sustainable development.
Speakers included:
- Jenny Gruenberger Pérez (IUCN Councilor, Bolivia)
- Klaus Bosselmann (Professor, University of Auckland Faculty of Law, New Zealand)
- Brendan Mackey (Professor, Griffith University, Australia)
- Ángela Andrade (Deputy-Chair, IUCN Commission On Ecosystem Management − CEM, and Environmental Policy Director, Conservation International, Colombia)
- Ambassador Masahiko Horie (IUCN Councilor, Japan)
- Elizabeth Mrema (Director, UNEP Division of Environmental Law and Conventions)
- Amy Fraenkel (WCLE Member and Head of Division, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity)
- Michelle Lim (Lecturer, Griffith Law School and Chair, WCEL Early Career Group)
- Sebastian Mabile (WCEL Member and Chair, Environment And Policy Commission, French IUCN National Committee)
- Bradnee Chambers (WCEL Member and Executive Secretary, and Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species)
- John Robinson (IUCN Vice President, Wildlife Conservation Society)
- & guest appearance by Zhang Xinsheng (IUCN President)