Five Australian teenagers have filed complaints of human rights violations with three UN bodies for what they claim is the Australian government's climate inaction.
Young people, including members of the indigenous First Nations community and that of disabled people, argue that the adopted target of reducing emissions by 2030 does not guarantee the rights of all young people in Australia, putting them at risk of serious harm from climate change, according to the Guardian Australia website.
The complaint of the group, represented by volunteer lawyers from the
Environmental Justice Australia
group
, precedes the COP 26 climate conference in Glasgow by just a few days, where key Australian allies such as the US and Britain hope to see improvements in reducing emissions.
Australia currently has a 2030 target of 26-28% reductions from 2005 levels, a target widely criticized as contrary to scientific advice and inadequate to slow global warming. The group calls on the UN special rapporteurs to press the Canberra government to increase its emission reduction targets for 2030. And to ask Canberra for explanations on how its inaction towards climate change is consistent with its obligations towards the human rights of young people. According to Environmental Justice Australia attorney Hollie Kerwin, the legal action is significant because UN special rapporteurs have the power to investigate human rights violations and to report both to the Australian representation at theUN and the Organization's Human Rights Council.