Australian Climate Case

Taking government to court for inaction on climate change

The Australian Climate Case is seeing two Traditional Owners from Gudamalulgal in the Torres Strait take the Australian Government to court for failing to prevent climate change. 

Issue

Australians are already suffering from the devastating effects of the climate emergency. The fate of First Nations communities, children, farming communities, small businesses and tourism operators, communities at risk of bushfires and more will catastrophically worsen if greenhouse emissions don’t decline to net zero within the next 29 years. Despite this, Australia’s emissions are currently estimated to decrease only 4 per cent by 2050. We are in grave danger if we don’t reach net zero in under 30 years.

Wadhuam Pabai and Wadhuam Paul are Traditional Owners whose ancestors have lived in the Torres Strait for more than 65,000 years. Now they are on the frontline of the climate crisis, and face losing their island homes under rising seas.

Response

Pabai and Paul have turned to the courts in the hope of protecting their communities from disaster. They are arguing that the Federal Government has a legal responsibility to ensure Torres Strait Islander Peoples are not harmed by climate change. In legal terms, this is called a ‘duty of care’.

Pabai and Paul will argue that by failing to prevent climate change the Australian Government has unlawfully breached this duty of care, because of the severe and lasting harm that climate change would cause to their communities. They are seeking an order from the court requiring the Government to prevent this harm to their communities by cutting greenhouse gas emissions. 

Torres Strait Islanders have a long history of fighting for their rights – and some of those battles have transformed the face of modern Australia. Torres Strait Islander man Eddie Mabo, took on the Government through the courts and established that terra nullius was a lie, paving the way for land rights for all First Nations Peoples in Australia.