Good Sunday Morning! And where did July go?
I do pay attention to feedback and notes I get in response to Sunday letters. One great Green volunteer and friend, Shelagh Levey, told me my last letter was way too long, which put me in mind of the great line, “If I had had more time, I could have written a shorter letter,” a quote attributed to many a wit, but most likely Blaise Pascal or Cicero were the originators. Still, I know it is a fact. Writing less takes more time. Writing is a craft and removing unnecessary words is the goal. Farley Mowat, one of my dearest friends and my daughter’s godfather, advised me decades ago to look at whatever I had written in draft and then remove every unnecessary word—even if I liked them a lot. So, thanks to Shelagh, this letter is shorter!!
Despite a sense that things slow down in summer, recent climate news has been, like climate change itself, accelerating. The news media is more interested in the kiss-cam incident at a Coldplay concert and the deeply concerning male-bonding over trafficking in underage girls, and how deeply Trump is embroiled in the Epstein case.
Significant climate international legal developments are ignored.
On July 3, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that the climate emergency is a human rights issue, and on July 23, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a landmark advisory opinion. At the request of the U.N. General Assembly, the ICJ heard arguments calling for climate justice, and from nation states arguing no legal obligations are at play. Over 90 countries filed written submissions, setting a new record. The advisory ruling is not binding but coming from the world’s highest court, it is being hailed as a significant turning point, holding that nation states may well face penalties and climate accountability for failure to take decisive climate action.
As I write this Sunday letter, there has been no response at all from Canada—nothing on the PMO website, nor has there been a statement from the Hon. Julie Dubrusin, Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Leading Canadian environmental lawyer, and Pender Island resident, David Boyd, an associate professor with the University of British Columbia and former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, told Canada’s National Observer those findings “…should send shivers down the spine” of the fossil fuel industry and governments that support it.
“It’s the clearest statement we’ve had from an international court that we have to get off fossil fuels,” he said. While the advisory opinion itself is non-binding, it is an authoritative statement on international laws which are binding on countries including Canada. You can read the excellent National Observer coverage here.
Choosing which links to share, I found this review from the Centre for International Environmental Law quite thorough.
The Era of Climate Impunity is Over—By Order of the World’s Highest Court
“THE HAGUE, July 23, 2025 — The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued today a landmark opinion affirming that States have a binding legal duty to prevent climate harm and protect human rights from the impacts of climate change. The Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL) applauds the court’s historic affirmation, which declares the era of fossil fuel impunity over and sets a new global standard for urgent action and accountability on climate justice.
In its long-awaited ruling on States’ legal obligations regarding climate change, the Court defined what justice means in the face of climate breakdown — ruling that countries must act with urgency, cooperate in good faith, and repair the damage already done— setting the stage for accountability and real action worldwide.
Vanuatu, the Pacific Islands, climate-affected nations, and youth campaigners across the globe spearheaded the request for the Advisory Opinion. “
In the spirit of brevity, this posting from Pachamama explains a similar decision, 20 days earlier, from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
In a landmark decision, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued an advisory opinion on July 3, 2025, declaring the climate emergency a fundamental human rights issue.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has made the message clear: governments must act now to prevent climate-related harm and ensure remedies for those most affected. In this spirit, Fundación Pachamama urges the Ecuadorian government to:
- Implement urgent climate mitigation and adaptation policies, with a focus on protecting the Amazon and Indigenous territories, regions that are globally significant for biodiversity and climate stability.
- Honour and uphold the rights of Indigenous peoples by guaranteeing their autonomy and decision-making power over ancestral lands.
- Take legal and political action to enshrine the rights of nature, as recognized by the Court, and ensure ecosystems are protected for present and future generations
As the steamrolling for build-baby-build is not slowing down, we need more voices raised to amplify the advice from our international courts.
Still, we do not need a court ruling to know that as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is a legally binding treaty, as is the Paris Agreement, Canada has obligations. But tragically, since neither agreement includes penalties for failure to act, it is an open question whether polluting nations, like Canada, feel any compunction about stealing from the Global South and younger generations.
The last global environmental treaty with enforcement mechanisms was the 1987 Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer. It worked and thank heavens the ozone layer is repairing itself.
It is not too late to imagine the day when we can say, “Look! The climate system is repairing itself!”
But that will not happen without a massive increase in citizen pressure globally to shut down the fossil fuel industry.
Take heart and use some summer Sundays to recharge your batteries!! When Parliament resumes in September, I will be forcing the issue. Hoping Mark Carney finds time to read his book Values. If he had had more time, I am sure he could have written a shorter book!
Love and thanks,
Elizabeth
Saanich-Gulf Islands Greens
https://www.sgigreenparty.ca/
