JC Fellow Sydney Speizman at EarthRights International supports Louisiana Tribes facing severe climate impacts
JC fellow Sydney Speizman at EarthRights International is supporting Tribes in southeast Louisiana to protect their rights and culture in the face of a land loss crisis resulting from the long legacy of oil and gas destruction of Louisiana’s wetlands, combined with the devastating impacts of climate change on the Gulf coast.
Tribal leaders are pursuing many avenues to build climate resilience on Louisiana’s coast, including by raising the challenges facing Indigenous communities in the U.S. in international fora. While the United States is one of the worst contributors to the climate crisis, Indigenous communities contribute the least to these emissions and bear the brunt of its impacts, including imminent threats of displacement.
Sydney and her EarthRights colleagues supported Louisiana Tribal leaders – together with a coalition of Indigenous and Tribal communities and organizations that EarthRights works with across the Americas, from Alaska to the Amazon – to elevate their experiences and urge action from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the escalating crisis. The IACtHR is in the process of issuing a landmark advisory opinion on States’ obligations to address the climate emergency and uphold human rights. Ahead of these hearings, EarthRights submitted an amicus brief to the IACtHR on behalf of a coalition of 25 Indigenous and tribal communities and organizations from the United States, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, and Honduras. The brief highlights the severe human rights and environmental impacts of climate change on their regions, which jeopardize biodiversity and the very existence of communities.
In May, the coalition was invited to speak before the IACtHR in Manaus, the capital of Brazil’s state of Amazonas, during its public hearings on this advisory opinion. Sydney accompanied leaders from Grand Bayou Indian Village in Louisiana, home to the Atakapa-Ishak Chawasha Tribe, and the Native Village of Nunapitchuk in western Alaska throughout the hearings in Manaus.
The outcome of the IACtHR’s advisory opinion could set a precedent for how climate justice is pursued on an international scale, ensuring that those who have contributed the least to climate change do not continue to bear the brunt of its consequences. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is currently in the process of issuing a similar advisory opinion. And while the United States is not bound by the opinions of these international mechanisms, other States are and take their international obligations and commitments seriously.
“It was a privilege to support the collective voices from across the Americas calling for the IACtHR to recognize and act upon the dire need to protect Indigenous rights in the face of climate change,” said Sydney. “As the international community develops legal frameworks to address these urgent threats, I hope that the stories shared by leaders from Grand Bayou Indian Village and Native Village of Nunapitchuk inform their response.”
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