We Stand With the Torres Strait, The Fight for Climate Justice Is Far From Over

This is the kind of legal gap that international law must fill

The Federal Court of Australia dismissed a landmark case brought by First Nations leaders from the Torres Strait Islands, ruling that the Australian Government does not owe a legal duty of care to protect their communities from the escalating impacts of climate change.

We are heartbroken, but not defeated.

Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai, Traditional Owners from Guda Maluygal in Torres Strait stood for their people, their culture, and their right to remain on their ancestral lands. 

They asked the Court to recognise what we all know to be true: that governments must act to prevent the irreversible loss of our homes, our ways of life, and our futures.

The Court accepted the overwhelming scientific evidence. It recognised the real and immediate threat to Torres Strait communities. But still, it stopped short, claiming that existing Australian law does not provide a clear legal duty to act.

This case shows us exactly why international legal clarity is so urgent.

Just weeks ago, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights confirmed that states do have legal obligations to prevent climate-related human rights violations. Our call for Climate Justice at the ICJ, also revolves around creating exactly this kind of accountability, so that no community, no matter how remote, is left to drown in legal uncertainty. Yet this decision from the Federal Court of Australia overlooks these urgent demands from communities on the frontlines, who face irreversible harm without justice.

To our sisters and brothers in the Torres Strait: your courage has rippled across oceans. This may not be the outcome we all would have expected, but your stand has marked a turning point, sparking global conversations, building momentum, and reminding the world that this fight is far from over. 

We honour your strength and resilience, even as we recognise that you deserve far more than recognition; you deserve justice. 

Our struggles are intertwined, and we carry it forward with renewed urgency.  Know your voices are not alone. The law is shifting. The world is watching. 

And soon, the ICJ will speak.

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