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The International Association of Democratic Lawyers COP 26 statement
We are here republishing a statement from the The International Association of Democratic Lawyers on the COP 26 climate conference.
The statement is available to download as a pdf here: The International Association of Democratic Lawyers COP 26 statement - final.pdf
This statement addresses the climate and biodiversity crisis and suggests solutions. The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) calls upon the States Parties attending COP 26 not only to adhere to their obligations under the Paris Agreement but go beyond the non-binding targets and achieve real zero emissions and not rely on net zero targets, as well as for Global North powers to provide climate debt reparations to the countries of the Global South, who have borne the brunt of exploitation, forced de-development and climate crisis.. The aims of the IADL include promoting the preservation of ecology and healthy environments; and defending peoples’ rights to development and for conditions of economic equality and the enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress and natural resources. We see it as essential that the climate crisis is not placed in opposition to the right of the Global South to develop. It is with these aims in mind that we submit this statement to the COP 26 Secretariat to achieve climate justice and a Just Transition for the peoples of the world.
About the International Association of Democratic Lawyers
Since IADL’s founding in 1946 in Paris, IADL members have participated in the struggles that have made the violation of human rights of groups and individuals and threats to international peace and security, legal issues under international law. From its inception, IADL members throughout the globe have protested racism, colonialism, and economic and political injustice wherever they interfere with legal and human rights, often at the cost of these jurists personal safety and economic well being.
IADL campaigns have led to changes in international humanitarian law like the universal acceptance of the importance of the right to self-determination and the protection of national human rights in arguments before UN bodies and international courts in a reinterpretation of the doctrine of “domestic jurisdiction,” formulated in Article 2, paragraph 7 of the UN Charter, a former barrier to international action in support of those basic rights.
This global evolution led by IADL lawyers has made possible United Nations’ intervention in situations of massive and institutionalized human rights abuses beginning with UN action in
the 1960’s regarding South Africa’s apartheid policies which had divested all human and legal rights from the black majority.
Through their efforts IADL lawyers have helped to establish fundamental concepts of international and domestic law including the declaration of apartheid as a crime against humanity; the provision of prisoner of war status to combatants from liberation movements; prohibition of the use of unilateral force by one nation against another; the recognized legal right of peoples to self-determination; the recognized legal rights of women and children; and the almost universal public policy acceptance that there should be legal remedies for racial, religious, economic and cultural discrimination and persecution.