The International Court of Justice hearings which began earlier this month. Photo: Screengrab / UN Web TV
Cook Islands has highlighted the impact of climate change on cultural heritage, particularly for women, during its historic participation at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearings in a landmark climate change case.
The hearings which began earlier this month is examining what countries worldwide are legally required to do to combat climate change and help vulnerable nations fight its devastating impact, The Guardian reported.
The Cook Islands delegation was among lawyers and representatives from more than 100 countries and organisations making submissions before the ICJ in The Hague.
The delegation, led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration (MFAI) director of the Treaties, Multilaterals and Oceans Division, Sandrina Thondoo, included foreign service officer Peka Fisher and external counsel, Auckland University senior lecturer Fuimaono Dylan Asafo.
Vaine Wichman, president of the Cook Islands National Council of Women, emphasised in a video presentation before the ICJ that Cook Islanders are the custodians of many natural and cultural art forms and traditions.
Wichman spoke fondly of the Pa Enua women who make and sell cultural handicrafts which vary in design and production from island to island.
"Women produce these as a source of income and as part of their gift giving obligation to the island and family events. The production of the handicraft is mainly based in the informal invisible sector. Often these means our women producers are not able to attract resources and support to assist in protecting the raw materials they rely on," Wichman stated.
"This is a gender equality issue because women's food and handicraft products are not clearly acknowledged in the production of the country's national accounts."
Wichman explained that the effects of climate change have become more and more challenging especially when sourcing natural fibres and materials from both the land and sea.
"The effects of climate change has compromised handicraft production even further. Today sourcing natural fibres and materials from both the land and sea is challenged. Warmer temperatures are wreaking havoc on both ecosystems adversely affecting handicraft production," she said.
"Also, our women are concerned about the non-economic loss and damage to their raw material ecosystem. The authenticity of our cultural projects has eroded. This erosion influences the breakdown in family traditions, cultural identity and the practice of our Maori language."
However, Wichman told the ICJ that research conducted with an Australian university last year found that, despite the loss of traditional practices and the decline in the use of te reo Māori, "our women continued to build resilience through preserving handicraft production and traditional knowledge".
"This resilience character of our women will help our people better anticipate, respond to, and recover from the extreme weather events such as cyclones and droughts," she said.
"Our women's knowledge, spirit and community soul offer urgency, hope and resilience in the face of climate change. This is why the court must advise that the world respect our human rights as indigenous Cook Islands women in this climate crisis.
"I pray that your opinion will do this as you listen through me to the voices of our women."
Thondoo, who presented the national remark, called on the ICJ to "listen to our statements openheartedly".
She said Cook Islands' position on the questions put to the court fully aligned with the position of Vanuatu and Melanesian Spearhead Group presented last week.
Vanuatu, leading the effort to bring this issue before the world's highest court, is asking the ICJ to clarify the obligations of States in respect of climate change, including towards small island developing States that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
Thondoo reiterated three of their arguments:
"First, that the relevant conduct to be evaluated by the court in these proceedings is the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gas emissions over time by a handful of states to such an extent that have caused significant harm to the climate system and other parts of the environment. This conduct is the main cause of climate change, according to the IPCC.
"Second, that this conduct of state is unlawful under a range of applicable international obligations including human rights obligations.
"Third, that this unlawful conduct triggers a range of legal consequences under the general law of state responsibility."
Cook Islands' statement highlights certain underrecognised aspects of the multi-dimensional realities of climate change, according to Thondoo.
They include:
- The states that have engaged in the relevant conduct responsible for climate crisis have breached their human rights obligations regarding the prohibition of racial and gender discrimination
- That there is an urgent need for structural remedies in the form of law reforms at the domestic, regional and international levels as legal consequences are arising from these breaches.
Auckland University senior lecturer Asafo placed the blame on "our international legal system" for "the climate crisis we face today".
Fuimaono Dylan Asafo Photo: Supplied
While making an oral statement for an advisory opinion on the obligations of states regarding climate change, Fuimaono said major greenhouse gas emitters have relied "on these systems, and the institutions and fora they contain, like the annual COPs (Conference of Parties)" for many decades "to expand fossil fuel industries, increase their emissions and evade responsibility for the significant harms their emissions have caused".
"In doing so, they have been able to maintain and grow the broader systems of domination that drive the climate crisis today - including imperialism, colonialism, racial capitalism, heteropatriarchy and ableism," he told RNZ.
Fuimaono called on nations to "dismantle these systems and imagine and build new ones capable of allowing everyone to live lives of joy and dignity, so that they are able to determine their own futures and destinies".
-Cook Islands News/RNZ Pacific.
