Australia is being sued by a group of islanders who say they have not been protected against climate change by the government.
The Torres Strait Islanders living off the country’s north coast have filed a court claim arguing that some islands could become uninhabitable if global temperatures rise more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
The case, brought on behalf of the remote islands of Boigu and Saibai in the Torres Strait, is believed to be the first such climate change class action launched by Indigenous Australians.
It was filed on the same day Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The Torres Strait Islands face the threat of floods and saltwater ruining their soil as global warming leads to more storms and rising sea levels.
"There is high confidence that Torres Strait Island communities and livelihoods are vulnerable to major impacts of climate change from even small sea level rises,” the claim filed with the Federal Court said.
One of the two plaintiffs, Paul Kabai, said his people have lived on the islands for more than 65,000 years and may be forced to leave if they face more flood and storm damage.
"Becoming climate refugees means losing everything: our homes, our culture, our stories and our identity," he said.
The case is being modelled on one that environmental group the Urgenda Foundation led against the government of the Netherlands, saying it had a legal responsibility to protect Dutch citizens from climate change.
That case resulted in the Dutch High Court ordering the government to cut carbon emissions faster than planned.
The latest case is expected to be heard in the third quarter of 2022 with a decision likely to take up to 18 months.
The islanders filed a human rights complaint to the UN two years ago on similar grounds, which has yet to be resolved.
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Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
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