Climate change is genocide
OPINION: Climate change is genocide. That's right, I said it. And on Monday, I will say it to the Select Committee for the Zero Carbon Bill . As a child of the 80s, I grew up watching the nuclear-free protests. Jacinda Ardern is right. The Zero Carbon Bill is indeed the nuclear-free moment of our generation. Growing up at the end of the Cold-War, at school I learned about the risk of mutually assured self-destruction through nuclear war. For me, it was personal. My grandfather was sent to Hiroshima with J-Force to clean up the H-bomb. I had been on the Rainbow Warrior on a school trip. And now that the world has survived the nuclear stand-off, we have graduated to an even more horrific fate: the slow and painful extinction of the entire human race. I do not say this lightly. As a lawyer who has worked as a war crimes investigator for nearly 20 years, I understand the intricacies of proving the legal tests of specific intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. READ MORE: * New Zealand must listen to Pacific voice on the climate crisis * Kids, don't let climate grief stop you looking forward to the future * Does the Government have stomach to tackle its 'nuclear-free' moment? * Why these climate change activists are ready to break the law In the drafting of the Genocide Convention , the New Zealand delegation is recorded asking a hypothetical question about the legality of a genocide "in fact" such as when a whole ethnic group lives in a village which is accidentally destroyed. Therefore, without intent to destroy that whole group, the group was in fact destroyed. There was no answer to the New Zealand delegation. And with a terrible irony, we face the same question now, but this time, for the whole of humanity. The scientifically established facts underpinning the climate emergency are shocking. Today's school kids are learning about these scientific facts which lead to only one conclusion: that we are already on an irreversible path to a climate which will not support human life. As the greenhouse gases and various tipping points are crossed with no way back (melting permafrost, retreating glaciers etc), the changes in the climate will become increasingly ferocious. The earth will be fine it has gone through millions of years cycling from high to low carbon in the atmosphere. It is life in all its forms, including our own, which will not be fine. Compared to my school days of people chaining themselves to boats and taking fun sailing trips to protest at Moruroa Atoll, our kids of today are crushed under climate-change-induced clinical depression. The obligation on us is clear: we have to do more for our kids and our planet. The eventual extinction of the human race is self-evidently, and horrifically, the most extreme act of genocide. Lawyers will point out the legal tests are stretched under this argument, but the question of genocide "in fact" even over a protracted time period, at least deserves a serious conversation. We need a legal framework or test cases which examine the tough legal questions of causation, inchoate crimes, conspiracy etc. Because at the end of the day, someone has to pay for the expensive palliative care of our species. The most important aspect for our survival is to amplify the role that everyday citizens like you and me have in finding the solutions and pushing our elected representatives into action. I have seen time and time again in my work that when people can take steps to create and enforce legislation directly, we have the most complete contribution to the balance of powers, as envisioned in a healthy democracy. Just last week, the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva found the State of Paraguay responsible for the violation of the right to life by not maintaining a healthy environment. This case was brought to the UN through a direct individual petition. For this reason, my submissions to the Select Committee focus on our global commitments to support the rights of citizens to have access to the courts through judicial review, which is currently excluded under the draft Bill. Judicial review is essential. I support the rights of youth and Te Ao Maori to lead this conversation and engage directly through the courts, such as already happening in the Waitangi Tribunal claim concerning climate change by representatives of the Mataatua District Maori Council . So that's why I'm using my voice and the privilege of my life experience to call for our country's elected representatives to prevent us from being privy to polices which shock the conscious of humanity. To call for us to NOT be part of the acts which may lead to our own extinction. Alison Cole is a war crimes investigator and international lawyer specialising in climate justice. She teaches at Victoria University and is a senior lecturer at Hong Kong University.