Published

1 year ago

December 24, 2024

Alice Rush

Grethel Aguilar is the Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

Climate change is not just a crisis of rising temperatures—it is a crisis for humanity and nature alike. By failing to act on climate change, states are gravely undermining the human rights of vulnerable communities.

But apart from the devastating direct impacts, climate change also threatens nature, and consequently also the services that nature provides people with. Climate and nature are deeply interlinked, and these links cannot be overlooked in global action to address the climate crisis.

Today, we represented IUCN and we backed numerous other experts and organisations in arguing before the International Court of Justice in The Hague that countries have a binding legal responsibility to fight climate change. But uniquely, as the global authority on the state of nature, we also highlighted the impacts of climate change on the natural world – and the need to consider nature in climate action.

The climate crisis is also a biodiversity crisis. Climate change alters ecosystems in a myriad of ways, and at the same time the loss of nature is fuelling the extent and impact of climate change globally. One cannot be addressed successfully without the other.

As ecosystems shift and species are pushed to extremes, the natural world—on which we all depend—is under immense pressure. Yet, hope lies in recognizing the deep interconnection between nature and climate action. By restoring forests, protecting coral reefs, safeguarding soil health, and conserving vital habitats, we not only protect biodiversity but also strengthen nature’s ability to buffer us against climate impacts.

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Today, we used our unique expertise to tell the court that nations need to take responsibility for climate change – but this cannot be realised if nature is overlooked.

As others like Vanuatu have argued, in failing to act on climate, states are undermining the human rights of vulnerable communities – particularly the right to life, health, housing and culture. By failing to reign in climate change, states are also undermining nature’s ability to provide communities with food, fisheries, productive farmland, and other services – impacting lives and livelihoods.

For millions—herders, farmers, fishers, and Indigenous peoples—nature is more than a resource; it is a lifeline. They will suffer the most from our inaction. Climate change is already affecting nature, and the impacts are escalating. For example, climate change and severe weather are a threat to 7,412 species (16%) on the IUCN Red List, including 19% of freshwater fishes and 44% of reef-building corals – two species groups that are integral to the lives of millions across the world.

Similarly, degraded land impacts 3.2 billion people, leaving communities more vulnerable to droughts that are increasing in severity and frequency – depriving them of the basic rights of access to food and water.

Over a billion people are estimated to benefit from coral reefs in some form, for instance, for food, income, and protection. As a Union that includes Indigenous peoples’ organisations as well as states and civil society, IUCN is well placed to speak out on this. This is an additional reason why action on climate must be a legal obligation for states, and why a failure to act should entail legal consequences.

The desertification (UNCCD) COP in Saudi Arabia just heard how up to 40% of the Earth’s land is degraded, impacting 3.2 billion people, including the world’s most vulnerable communities. These trends are compounded by biodiversity loss and declines in soil health as well as climate change, both of which contribute to the impacts of droughts – which are increasing in severity, frequency, and intensity. Some estimates suggesting that three quarters of the global population could be affected by 2050.

We know that action to limit climate change requires a just and inclusive transition to a low-carbon future via significant renewable energy development.

Here, too, climate and nature are connected. While a just and speedy transition to renewables is an absolute priority, biodiversity must also be considered in humans’ responses to climate change. For example, the energy transition entails changing land use – such as planting biofuels – and building energy infrastructure such as wind turbines and dams. Nature must be factored in and protected in the midst of these changes – when planning biofuel projects or energy infrastructure – to ensure that these responses do not impact ecosystems and species negatively.

Let us remember that the link between climate and nature is two-way – climate change threatens nature but failing to protect forests, grasslands, coral reefs, seagrass meadows and other ecosystems also worsens climate change, and leaves communities more vulnerable to its impacts. Nature is a crucial ally in the fight against the climate crisis, and we simply cannot afford to overlook it.

The post ICJ climate justice proceedings must recognise links between climate and nature appeared first on Climate Home News.

ICJ climate justice proceedings must recognise links between climate and nature

Climate Change

Broken debt system must be fixed to confront future climate shocks

Published

5 hours ago

April 14, 2026

Alice Rush

Mae Buenaventura is the manager of the debt justice programme of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development, a regional alliance of peoples’ movements, community organizations, coalitions, NGOs and networks

A potentially historic shift in public debt governance is set to unfold in Washington DC this week as Global South governments take a collective stand to stop a “silent killer” of development financing.

The first-ever UN-hosted borrowers’ forum will officially be launched on April 15 on the sidelines of the 2026 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Led by five convening countries – Zambia, Egypt, Nepal, the Maldives and Pakistan – the initiative is one of the key wins of last year’s 4th Financing for Development Conference (FFD4) in Sevilla, Spain.

The forum’s mandate is to establish a platform for borrower countries, supported by a UN secretariat, “to discuss technical issues, share information and experiences in addressing debt challenges, increase access to technical assistance and capacity-building in debt management, coordinate approaches and strengthen borrower countries’ voices in the global debt architecture”.

Instead of facing lenders alone, these countries will now use a UN-backed platform to share technical expertise and coordinate their approach to a global debt system that is fundamentally broken.

Debt grips climate-vulnerable nations

The human cost of the current debt architecture is staggering. According to the UN trade and development agency, UNCTAD, more than 40% of the global population – roughly 3.4 billion people – live in countries where the government is forced to spend more on debt payments than on the health, education and social protection of its citizens.

In so-called low-income countries, governments spend an average of 7.5% of their total budgets on debt service, with interest payments consuming up to 20% of total government revenue in these regions.

The Philippines is a case study in this financial stranglehold. It is part of a global majority forced to watch its public services crumble and infrastructure lag while its wealth is siphoned off to satisfy foreign lenders.

The policy of automatic appropriations – a legacy of the rule of late former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. – mandates that debt servicing takes precedence over any other public expenditure, effectively placing the demands of lenders above the needs of the Filipino people. Even as it faces a $1.5 trillion regional financing gap to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, its hands remain tied by a legal framework that values credit ratings over human lives.

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As a “middle-income country” (MIC), the Philippines is stuck in a frustrating purgatory. It is often deemed “too wealthy” for the G20’s debt-relief framework, yet too poor to absorb global economic shocks. Last year, Finance Undersecretary Joven Balbosa hit the nail on the head when he called for support that goes “beyond the simplistic income categorization” that ignores a country’s actual vulnerabilities.

Without an inclusive and equitable global debt architecture, nations including the Philippines are left to navigate catastrophic climate risks and economic shocks with zero fiscal breathing space.

No respite during climate disasters

The regional evidence of this systemic failure is everywhere. Take Pakistan, which in 2022 was hit by catastrophic flooding that submerged a third of the country and caused billions in losses. Despite this climate-driven disaster, World Bank data shows that Pakistan made payments in 2023 of $11.8 billion for public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) external debt, while its PPG external debt reached $93 billion that same year, surpassing pre-pandemic debt of $87 billion (2020).

Sri Lanka followed IMF prescriptions throughout 16 lending programs since 1991, only to become the first Asian country this century to default. Its MIC status prevents application for debt relief and restructuring measures. Today, the Sri Lankan people bear the brunt of harsh conditionalities, including raising VAT from 8% to 15%, slashing food and fuel subsidies, and the erosion of hard-earned worker pensions.

Residents sit in a Rescue 1122 boat as they evacuate from the flooded area, following monsoon rains and rising water levels of the Chenab River, in Qasim Bela village on the outskirts of Multan in Punjab province, Pakistan, September 11, 2025. REUTERS/Quratulain Asim

Currently, the global rules of lending and borrowing are set by a “creditors’ club” composed of the IMF, the World Bank and the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable it set up, and the Paris Club.

These institutions measure “debt sustainability” through a narrow lens of a country’s capacity to make timely repayments. They largely ignore internal economic inequalities, gender disparities and the existential threat of climate change.

Crises should trigger debt service cancellation

By organising the new borrowers’ forum, the Global South is signalling that the era of passive “standard-setting” by lenders is over.

The ultimate goal for global civil society and debt justice movements is the establishment of a UN Debt Convention; a democratic, binding and inclusive framework that governs both lenders and borrowers. This mechanism would ensure that debt restructuring and cancellation are sufficient to allow countries to fulfill their international human rights obligations and implement necessary climate actions.

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To be truly transformative, debt sustainability analyses must align with human rights and sustainable development needs. This means conducting impact assessments – both before and after loans are issued – to identify “illegitimate” debts that do not benefit the public.

Crucially, we need an automatic debt service cancellation mechanism that triggers during extreme climatic, environmental or health shocks. We also need a binding global debt registry to ensure that every loan is transparent and subject to public scrutiny.

Whether the borrowers’ forum becomes a true milestone depends on its courage to challenge the status quo. We can no longer allow debt to act as a “silent killer” of our future. It is time to demand a financial system that serves humanity, not just the balance sheets of the powerful.

The post Broken debt system must be fixed to confront future climate shocks appeared first on Climate Home News.

Broken debt system must be fixed to confront future climate shocks

Climate Change

Join Greenpeace to save Scott Reef from Woodside’s dirty gas

Published

5 hours ago

April 14, 2026

Alice Rush

Greenpeace and allies will be protesting outside Woodside’s Annual General Meeting to show the WA and federal governments strong community opposition to Woodside’s proposal to drill for gas at Scott Reef.

What: Protest outside Woodside Energy’s Annual General Meeting

When: 8am Thursday 23rd April 2026Where: Kagoshima Park (on the corner of Great Eastern Highway and Bolton Avenue)

RSVP now and join the protest

What’s at stake

Scott Reef is a pristine ocean ecosystem off the north-west coast of Australia.

It is home to endangered and endemic species, including pygmy blue whales and the dusky sea snake, and a nesting ground for green sea turtles. Scott Reef is a place of extraordinary natural beauty, and a vital marine environment that supports a wide range of marine life.

What Woodside is proposing

Dirty fossil fuel corporation, Woodside Energy, is seeking approval to drill more than 50 gas wells underneath and around Scott Reef as part of its Browse project.

The gas would be extracted and transported to the Burrup Hub, the most polluting fossil fuel project in Australia. This proposal would industrialise the doorstep of Australia’s largest freestanding oceanic reef system – threatening the marine life that relies on it and the climate.

Why this can’t go ahead

The WA Environmental Protection Authority has already identified the risks of this project as “unacceptable”, issuing a preliminary rejection.

Serious concerns include:

The risk of an oil spill
Impacts on pygmy blue whales
Damage to green sea turtle nesting grounds

These risks are severe, and potentially irreversible. But the decision hasn’t been made yet. The project is still being assessed.

The Federal Environment Minister is approaching a decision that will determine whether Scott Reef is protected – or vulnerable to decades of industrial gas destruction.

This is a defining moment.