Indigenous people threatened by rising seas face a “bleak future” without urgent action to tackle climate change, but Australian law provides no “legal avenue” for them to force the government to respond, a federal judge has found.
The ruling Tuesday in a high-profile climate case follows efforts by Torres Strait islanders to compel the government in Canberra to slash greenhouse gas emissions more rapidly.
Justice Michael Wigney of the Federal Court found that the islands, its people and their culture are being “ravaged by human induced climate change” and that global warming poses “an existential threat” to humanity.
But he sided with the government which had argued there is no legal duty of care that requires it to protect the islands from climate harm.
