Indigenous leaders and advocates gathered at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues this week to address how to enforce international court rulings on climate action. They highlighted gaps between legal decisions and government compliance, particularly affecting vulnerable communities. Speakers urged using these rulings as tools to protect Indigenous lands and rights.
At the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which convened this week, hundreds of advocates heard calls to leverage recent international court opinions for climate accountability. Luisa Castañeda-Quintana, executive director of Land is Life, told the forum on Monday: “This is a moment of opportunity. These advisory opinions are not symbolic, they are instruments of power.” She emphasized integrating them into advocacy at every level to safeguard Indigenous futures. Last year, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion holding states accountable for climate harm, especially to small island states. The Inter-American Court on Human Rights made a similar ruling last summer, mandating fossil fuel reductions and inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in policies. Despite these decisions, enforcement remains elusive. In Ecuador, where the constitution has recognized nature's rights since 2008, Magaly Ruiz Cajas of the Judiciary Council stated: “In Ecuador, green justice is not an option, it is an obligation.” Yet Juan Bay, president of the Waorani Nation, accused the government of noncompliance with laws protecting isolated Indigenous peoples near oil wells. Ecuador's February mining law further weakened environmental safeguards amid ongoing persecution of land defenders. UN special rapporteur Albert Kwokwo Barume noted a regional paradox in Latin America: strong legal frameworks undermined by poor implementation. Vanuatu's UN resolution to operationalize the ICJ ruling, seeking fossil fuel phaseouts and reparations, faced opposition from the Trump administration, which deemed it a “charade.” The General Assembly vote is delayed until May. Speakers from Canada and New Zealand, including Ryan Fleming of Attawapiskat First Nation and Janell Dymus-Kurei of Te Whakatōhea, decried local climate impacts and underuse of global mechanisms.
