06 July, 2014

Failure to respond to climate change is effectively a crime against humanity


Events which people were able to avoid, prevent or save their fellows from and about which they did nothing or which they vindictively prosecuted, have historically, and traditionally, been seen as a crime against humanity.

Yet to be born generations of people struggling with the legacy of inaction and procrastination on climate change by today’s world leaders will be wondering why those of us who “knew” what was unfolding, failed to act.

The June 2014 edition of the Health and Human Rights journal has said in its editorial: ”The Great Procrastination”:

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created in response to global outrage at the human suffering and atrocities of the Second World War. The world united to ensure that humankind would never again experience such loss of dignity and freedom.

”Unabated climate change poses exactly this threat; it is imperative that we use our human rights entitlements to guide the process and actions to mitigate such disaster.”

The failure of many governments of developed countries to act to positively address climate change, among them Australia and Canada, represents a crime against humanity.

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