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RNZ News
24-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Ni-Vanuatu youth celebrate landmark ICJ ruling as a new era for climate change justice
By Aui'a Vaimaila Leatinu'u , PMN Save the Children Vanuatu NextGen Youth Ambassadors and youth climate activists demonstrating ahead of the historic International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change. Photo: Save the Children A youth climate advocate from Vanuatu says the United Nations' court ruling on countries' climate responsibility has given new hope to young people across the Pacific. The International Court of Justice's (ICJ) advisory opinion found that countries have binding legal obligations under international law to prevent climate harm and protect human rights. While the opinion is not legally enforceable, it carries substantial political and legal weight for states and communities seeking accountability. Speaking to Khalia Strong on Pacific Mornings, 16-year-old Ni-Vanuatu *Vepaiamele welcomes the ICJ verdict. Vepaiamele was part of the Vanuatu delegation that attended The Hague last December. "It is an amazing advisory opinion because it completely clarifies what states need to be doing in regards to the climate crisis. We know that the climate crisis isn't just an environmental crisis, it's also a human rights crisis and affects children's rights. So I'm sure that it will pave the way for justice for everyone around the world," she says. For Vepaiamele, the struggle against climate change is personal. Growing up in Vanuatu, she has witnessed the impacts of climate change firsthand, including schools and clinics being put out of commission, forcing children to learn in tents. "We see the effects of climate change in our nation and economy, from things that have happened even years ago. Cyclones that have happened two years ago or10 years ago. We still see the effects lingering to this day." Vepaiamele writing poetry at her home in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Photo: Save the Children This ruling follows years of advocacy led by youth in the Pacific, especially students from Vanuatu, supported by their government. Minister for Climate Change Ralph Regenvanu says the court's unanimous ruling confirms what vulnerable states have long argued. "These aren't aspirational ideas as some would have it. It's important now as the world goes forward that we make sure our actions align with what was decided. Today's ruling will also inspire new cases where victims around the world, in a legal sense, realise that they can claim their rights and seek accountability," Regenvanu says. The Vanuatu government plans to present the ruling to the UN General Assembly in order to push for global implementation. "The implementation of this decision, we hope, will set a new status quo and provide the structural changes needed to give our current and future generations hope for a healthy planet and a sustainable future," he says. Save the Children's Polly Banks Photo: PMN Polly Banks, the country director for Save the Children in Vanuatu, sees the ruling as a "huge win for human rights" and believes it will add moral pressure on governments. Although the advisory opinion is not legally binding, Banks remains "thrilled at this outcome". "It's expected that the advisory opinion will influence future climate litigation, environmental negotiations or climate change negotiations, and national policy frameworks," she says. "Leading environmental lawyers have described the advisory opinion as a potential guiding star in terms of climate action. So we see this as an absolute landmark moment for climate change." Vepaiamele expresses her pride in the achievements of the youth and emphasises the moment's importance for justice and future generations. "It's amazing what the students have achieved and also our government and governments that have supported this," she says. "It will pave the way for climate justice for communities and people all around the world. I'm so proud and happy with this outcome. I hope that everyone else is listening and will take climate change seriously." -This article was first published by PMN .
RNZ News
28-04-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
Vanuatu communities growing climate resilience
Damages to South Pentecost villages in the aftermath of Cyclone Lola. Photo: Supplied/Save the Children Communities in Vanuatu are learning to grow climate resilient crops, 18 months after Cyclone Lola devastated the country. The category 5 storm struck in October 2023 , generating wind speeds of up to 215 kilometres per hour, which destroyed homes, schools, plantations, and left at least four people dead. It was all the worse for following twin cyclones Judy and Kevin earlier that year . Save the Children Vanuatu country director Polly Banks said they have been working alongside Vanuatu's Ministry of Agriculture and local partners, supporting families through the Tropical Cyclone Lola Recovery Programme. "It really affected backyard gardening and the communities across the areas affected - their ability to pursue an income and also their own nutritional needs," she said. Read more: She said the programme looked at the impact of the cyclone on backyard gardening and on people's economic reliance on what they grow in their gardens, and developed a recovery plan to respond. "We trained community members and also provided them with the equipment to establish cyclone resilient nurseries. "So for example, nurseries that can be put up and then pulled down when a harsh weather event - including cyclones but even heavy rainfall - is arriving. "There was a focus on these climate resilient nurseries, but also through that partnership with the Department of Agriculture, there was also a much stronger focus than we've had before on teaching community members climate smart agricultural techniques." Banks said these techniques included open pollinating seed and learning skills such as grassing; and another part of the project was introducing more variety into people's diets. She said out of the project has also come the first seed bank on Epi Island. "That seed bank now has a ready supply of seeds, and the community are adding to that regularly, and they're taking those seeds from really climate-resilient crops, so that they have a cyclone secure storage facility," she said. "The next time a cyclone happens - and we know that they're going to become more ferocious and more frequent - the community are ready to replant the moment that the cyclone passes. "But in setting the seed bank up as well, the community have been taught how to select the most productive seeds, the seeds that show the most promise; how to dry them out; how to preserve them." Banks said they are also working with the Department of Agriculture in the delivery of a community-based climate resilience project, which is funded by the Green Climate Fund. Rolled out across 282 communities across the country, a key focus of it is the creation of more climate-resilient backyard gardening, food preservation and climate resilient nurseries. "We're also setting up early warning systems through the provision of internet to really remote communities so that they have better access to more knowledge about when a big storm or a cyclone is approaching and what steps to take. "But that particular project is still just a drop in the ocean in terms of the adaptation needs that communities have."
Scoop
23-04-2025
- Climate
- Scoop
Vanuatu: Families Find Climate-Smart Ways To Grow Crops 18 Months On From Cyclone Devastation
Families in Vanuatu are adopting climate-smart agricultural techniques to improve food security, such as growing climate resistant crops, to prepare for future climate-driven disasters in the wake of devastating Tropical Cyclone Lola 18 months ago. Tropical Cyclone Lola was one of the most powerful off-season storms to strike the Pacific when it made landfall in October 2023 with wind speeds of up to 215 km/h, destroying homes, schools and plantations, claiming the lives of at least four people [2] and affecting about 91,000 people [1]. Recovery efforts were made significantly more challenging when Vanuatu's capital Port Vila was then hit by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in December last year, claiming 14 lives and destroying critical infrastructure. Madleen, 11, said when the cyclone hit, her family's crops were destroyed, leaving them short of food. "It destroyed the food crops. When we came outside, we saw the crops were destroyed. The banana tree was just bearing fruit and it was destroyed. And we didn't have enough food. We were eating rice, but we were almost running short. We were not eating well, we ate just enough. I felt bad." After the cyclone, a shortage of nutritious food put children at risk of hunger as well as diseases like diarrhea, with typically an increase in the number of children hospitalised for diarrhea following cyclones, Save the Children said. Vanuatu is already one of the most climate disaster-prone countries in the world, and scientists say tropical cyclones will become more extreme as the climate crisis worsens. This will disproportionately impact children due to food shortages, disruption to education and psychosocial trauma associated with experiencing disasters. Save the Children, alongside Vanuatu's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries, and Biosecurity (MALFFB) and local partners, is supporting Madleen and her family through the Tropical Cyclone Lola Recovery Programme, which is helping improve food security and resilience in communities impacted by the cyclone. As a part of the Recovery Programme, over 1,100 households have received climate-resistant [3] seeds from a seedbank. These seeds, for growing watermelon, papaya, Chinese cabbage, tomato, capsicum and cucumber, are proven to perform in Vanuatu's changing climate, with tolerance to high rainfall, drought, pests and disease. Farmers are encouraged to preserve the seeds from crops and sell them back to the seed bank. The programme is also training communities in other climate-smart agricultural techniques such as growing smaller fruit trees that are robust enough to withstand strong cyclone winds. Save the Children has also built a collapsible nursery for plants in Madleen's community that can be taken down when a cyclone is predicted, so saplings and trees can be stored, protected and replanted after it passes. Save the Children Vanuatu Country Director, Polly Banks, said: "In just 18 months, people in Vanuatu have been deeply shaken by a devastating cyclone and a powerful earthquake. "Children have borne the brunt of this, with food taken off their plates, crops destroyed, homes and schools damaged and diseases on the rise. As the climate crisis accelerates, we must work with communities to strengthen their resilience, so children and their families are better equipped to face whatever comes next. "We're working in partnership with the Government of Vanuatu and local partners to help communities build the skills and resources they need to support themselves when future cyclones and disasters strike." Save the Children has been working in in Vanuatu for more than 40 years to make sure children are learning, protected from harm, and grow up healthy and strong. Notes: This project was also supported by the New Zealand Government's Disaster Response Partnership programme. Multimedia content, including video interviews and b-roll can be found here: [1] National Disaster Management Office Vanuatu: Tropical Cyclone Lola: Internationally Deployed Assets (As of 2 November 2023) | OCHA [2] Cyclone Lola deaths caused by inaccessibility to urgent medical care [3] Open-pollinated seeds (OP seeds) produce plants that can reproduce true to type, meaning farmers can save seeds from their harvest and plant them in the next season with similar results. OP varieties used and recommended by the Vanuatu Agriculture Research and Technical Centre are often locally adapted, meaning they've been trialed and selected for their performance in Vanuatu's climate - including tolerance to high rainfall, drought, pests and diseases. These seeds have genetic diversity, allowing plants to better adapt to changing weather patterns. About Save the Children NZ: Save the Children works in 120 countries across the world. The organisation responds to emergencies and works with children and their communities to ensure they survive, learn and are protected. Save the Children NZ currently supports international programmes in Fiji, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Areas of work include child protection, education and literacy, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation, and alleviating child poverty.
