The Net Times: Al Gore, Mary Robinson, Felipe Calderón talk climate change justice at IBA Annual Conference, Tokyo

INTERNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION
the global voice of the legal profession

NEWS RELEASE

[For immediate release: Tuesday, 21 October 2014]

Al Gore, Mary Robinson, Felipe Calderón talk international climate change justice at 2014 IBA Annual Conference in Tokyo

World-leading experts in climate change, including Nobel Peace Prize-winner Al Gore, the United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Change Mary Robinson, the Chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate Felipe Calderón, the International Law Commission Special Rapporteur for the 'Protection of the Atmosphere' Professor Shinya Murase and former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed will address delegates attending the week-long 2014 International Bar Association (IBA) Annual Conference taking place at the Tokyo International Forum in Japan. A special Showcase session will be held on Wednesday 22 October from 09h00 – 12h30.

Via video link and through specially recorded video footage Al Gore and Felipe Calderón, respectively, will add their voices to the debate on the new concept and recently coined term 'climate change justice'. At this session, the IBA Presidential Task Force on Climate Change Justice and Human Rights – co-chaired by David Estrin, Chair of the IBA's Environment, Health and Safety Law Committee, and Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Co-Chair of the IBA's Human Rights Institute – will present some of the key findings and recommendations from its recently published ground-breaking report, Achieving Justice and Human Rights in an Era of Climate Disruption.

Wide-ranging and comprehensive, the 240-page report identifies problems and gaps in existing legal, human rights, trade and other institutional arrangements. It contains a series of new ideas and recommendations to governments and world institutions, such as the World Trade Organization, human rights bodies, and international development financing agencies. Furthermore, it recommends specific law and corporate governance reforms to aid in the prevention and mitigation of climate change impacts and to protect the human rights of vulnerable communities. Thousands of copies of the Report have been printed and each delegate attending the Conference will receive a first edition copy.

In the Report's Foreword, Ms Robinson comments, 'With the publication of this report I have to say that the IBA has… delivered an excellent contribution to the understanding of climate justice and the role of human rights law in addressing the climate challenge. Through this Report the legal community embraces climate justice, elucidates the links between climate change and human rights and makes clear recommendations on ways to secure justice for those affected by climate impacts.'

IBA President Michael Reynolds said, 'While international activity has been extensive in the areas of scientific and economic mitigation, less has been said on the impact of climate change on human rights, and on the obligation of the international community to ensure that those in developing and less developed countries who are least responsible for human impact are not those who suffer the most from the resulting droughts, floods, and storms.' He added, 'It is heartening that a dedicated group of individuals have delivered, through this new 240-page report, a comprehensive picture of current barriers to climate justice and have recommended action at national, international and corporate levels for a shift in climate change reform, from its current focus on the economic and the scientific towards a new emphasis on human rights.'

The IBA Showcase session: Achieving Justice and Human Rights in an Era of Climate Disruption will take place on Wednesday 22 October from 0900–1230, in Hall B5-2, Tokyo International Forum, 3-5-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-0005.

For more information on the Showcase Session, download the Conference programme from here and see page 20.

Click here to download the report: Achieving Justice and Human Rights in an Era of Climate Disruption. (See pages 1–31 for the Executive Summary, Recommendations and Action Matrix).

Click here to download a media briefing on the report, its authors and its important issues and recommendations.

ENDS

Notes to the Editor

At the IBA Annual Conference 2012 in Dublin, preeminent human rights and climate change advocate Mary Robinson introduced the concept of climate justice, 'a human-rights based approach to combating climate change', and challenged the IBA as the global voice of the legal profession to play a role in bringing about its reality. IBA President Michael Reynolds took up the challenge and convened at Task Force on Climate Change Justice and Human Rights.
The Task Force has recognised that the more than 50 actionable recommendations made in the Report must be grounded in the 'certainties of climate science and the realities of international climate policy', and have outlined and assessed legal, human rights, trade and institutional challenges and solutions. Through the Action Matrix, the report provides recommendations for integrating climate justice into existing organisations such as the World Trade Organisation and the international courts, and establishing new, dedicated fora and mechanisms such as an International Court for the Environment and a legally recognised universal human right to a safe, healthy and sustainable environment.
The International Bar Association (IBA), established in 1947, is the world's leading organisation of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Through its global membership of individual lawyers, law firms, bar associations and law societies it influences the development of international law reform and shapes the future of the legal profession throughout the world.

The IBA's administrative office is in London. Regional offices are located in: São Paulo, Brazil; Seoul, South Korea; and Washington DC, US, while the International Bar Association's International Criminal Court Programme (IBA ICC) is managed from an office in The Hague.

The International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) works to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession worldwide.