Press release from the Climate Action Network Australia and the Climate Justice Programme, Wednesday 29th September 2004

World Heritage Convention Requires Greenhouse Gas Emission Cuts

A report published by leading international lawyers has concluded that legal obligations on countries under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention require cuts to be made in greenhouse gas emissions ^[ 1 ]. This means that countries, including the United States and Australia, must take action on climate change because of their legal duty to protect important natural heritage sites facing damage from climate change.

This is the first time that a legal link has been made between the World Heritage Convention, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. It has implications for many countries, such as Australia, which has a duty to protect the Great Barrier Reef and the US, home to a number of world heritage glaciers at Kluane/Wrangell and elsewhere ^[ 2 ]. All these sites are threatened by climate change, but neither country has ratified the Kyoto Protocol.

According to the report on Australia’s obligations towards the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Site, the Sydney Centre for International and Global Law concludes in particular that:

• the Australian government’s failure to ratify the Kyoto Protocol amounts to a violation of Articles 4 and 5 of the World Heritage Convention;

• at the very least, the Australian government should justify publicly why it is not within Australia’s resources to commit to a policy of deep cuts, if it believes this is the case;

• consistent with the principle of good faith, in future negotiations (for example those regarding the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol) the Australian government must not adopt an unreasonable position that would prevent the conclusion of an effective international legal framework to address climate change;
• given the broad scientific recognition that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are a major cause of the climate change that causes damage to the reef through coral bleaching, it can be argued that Article 6(3) of the World Heritage Convention requires all Convention Parties to ensure, both individually and in cooperation with other States Parties, that emissions of greenhouse gases are reduced.

These conclusions also apply to other countries that host World Heritage Sites where those sites may be impacted by greenhouse gas emissions - such as the US and its world heritage glacier parks.

Philip Freeman of the Climate Action Network of Australia (CANA), which commissioned the report, said:

"The Great Barrier Reef is a global icon, and a source of great pride in Australia. We need urgent action on climate change - both nationally and internationally - to ensure its survival. That means commitments to at least 60% reductions in greenhouse emissions by 2050. If Governments don’t do what is required, this Report clearly shows that they will be left exposed to further action, in both domestic and international venues."

Peter Roderick, Director of the international and collaborative Climate Justice Programme ^[ 3 ] said:

"We only have a short time in which to act to stop further damage to some of the world’s most precious sites. There are international legal obligations that help us to do this and these must be respected by countries such as Australia and the US within both the UNESCO and UNFCCC processes."

CANA has sent a copy of the report to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in Paris and to the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn ^[ 4 ], pointing out that it is imperative for international law to be respected and brought to bear in ensuring that the necessary cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are made so that World Heritage Sites can be protected for future generations.

A copy of the report is available here: SCIGL Final Report

A copy of the lawyers’ media summary is available here: Media Summary

Information on the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Site is here: UNESCO

Contacts:

• CANA - http://www.cana.net.au
  Phil Freeman, + 61 411 333 663
  phil@cana.net.au

• Climate Justice Programme – http://www.climatelaw.org
  Peter Roderick, +44 207 388 3141
  peterroderick@cjp.demon.co.uk

• Sydney Centre for International and Global Law - http://www.law.usyd.edu.au/scigl
  Professor Donald R. Rothwell, +61 2 9351 0308
  donr@law.usyd.edu.au

END NOTES