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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Jon Letman

After landmark climate win, lawyer hopes for a ‘new legal order’ to protect Indigenous rights

Human rights lawyer and Vanuatu's lead counsel Julian Aguon leaves after small Pacific island states attended hearings inside the International Court Of Justice on December 2, 2024 in the Hague.
Human rights lawyer Julian Aguon after hearings on climate harm at the international court of justice in late 2024. Photograph: Michel Porro/Getty Images

Six years ago, human rights lawyer Julian Aguon received a call from Vanuatu’s foreign affairs minister. The minister had an unusual request – he wanted Aguon to help develop a legal case on behalf of dozens of law students who were seeking climate justice from the world’s highest court.

Aguon, a Chamorro lawyer based in Guam, was excited by the opportunity and believed they could clear up legal ambiguities he says had “long hobbled the ability of the international community to respond effectively to the climate crisis.”

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