A competition launched by: Oxfam International, The
Climate Justice Program, and
Advocates for International Development
Why this competition?
Oxfam International’s staff and partners work with poor communities in over 100 countries around the world, and they are increasingly witnessing the devastating effects of more frequent and severe climatic events on poor people’s human rights to life, security, water, food, shelter and culture.
Climate change is creating an unprecedented challenge for the international community, and international institutions must rise to meet it. The current negotiations under the UNFCCC are a crucial route to getting an effective and fair approach to tackling climate change, but evolution in international law is likewise an important tool for providing affected people a means to defend their human rights.
In order to emphasize the international obligations of states, stimulate innovation and progress in international law addressing climate change, and to bring public attention to the urgency of the matter, Oxfam International, the Climate Justice Program, and Advocates for International Development are together launching a climate law competition. We are calling on lawyers, academics and law students worldwide to put forward the strongest legal case possible to demonstrate that rich countries’ greenhouse-gas emissions are violating the human rights of people in developing countries (
download full details and the competition question here).
The competition will be judged by a panel of eminent international lawyers, drawn from backgrounds covering both international human rights law and environmental law. There are two categories for entries: one category for practicing lawyers and academics, and another for law students, and this should be clearly marked on the submission. Entries can be submitted in English, French, Spanish or Portuguese, and should be sent by email to
climatechangecompetition@a4id.org by 31 December 2008.
The winning entries in each category will be announced by the panel in March 2009. The top entry in each category will be announced and published on the websites of all three organizations, and the two winners will also each receive a £100 voucher for purchasing books or climate-friendly goods.
The Competition Question:
Algoria (an imaginary country) is a small, mid-latitude, developing country. With high mountain regions in the north, the majority of its population live in the mangrove-fringed fertile coastal plain to the south, mostly making their basic living from small-scale agriculture and fishing, benefiting from the glacier-fed rivers. Some progress has been made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, with notable reductions in cases of measles and maternal mortality. Significant expenditure is planned, with the help of international development assistance, to provide clean water and basic sanitation facilities for the 60% of the population with no access to them. But about 40% of the population still live on less than one US dollar a day, and over 25% of children under five are underweight.
Last week, you read an article in the Algoria Times reporting the Algorian Environment Minister as saying that, “We’re going to suffer massively from climate change. It’s already happening and undermining the human rights of our people. I blame the developed world. They’ve got to stop dragging their feet, reduce their emissions and pay up for their past profligacy. If they can’t come up with a fair negotiated deal at the UN by the end of 2009, we should take them to court instead to make them do it.”
