EarthAction

Preview: Marshall Islands' Nuclear Disarmament Cases at the International Court of Justice

Source: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 

Over the next two weeks, oral arguments in the Marshall Islands’ nuclear disarmament cases will take place at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) originally filed the lawsuits in April 2014 against all nine nuclear-armed nations (United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea). These are the first contentious cases about nuclear disarmament to be brought before the world’s highest court.

The RMI claims that the nuclear-armed nations are in breach of nuclear disarmament obligations under existing international law. This applies to the P5 nations that are signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), as well as to the four non-NPT signatories (Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea) under customary international law.

“We are, basically, asking the Court to tell the respondent states to live up to their obligations under international law and to conduct negotiations leading to the required result: nuclear disarmament in all its aspects,” said Phon van den Biesen, Co-Agent for the RMI and attorney at law in Amsterdam, who is leading the International Legal Team.

From March 7-16, the cases against India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom will be argued. The three respondents are the only nations among the “Nuclear Nine” that accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ. The other six nuclear-armed nations were invited to accept the jurisdiction of the Court in this case, but either explicitly declined (China) or ignored the application (U.S., Russia, France, Israel and North Korea).

The applications filed by the RMI in April 2014 are available online. All subsequent filings – memorials and counter-memorials – have thus far been treated as confidential by the ICJ. Standard practice of the ICJ is to make these documents public once the oral argument phase has begun. If and when the ICJ makes the memorials and counter-memorials public, they will also be available at the aforementioned link.

Arguments in RMI vs. India will take place on March 7, 10, 14 and 16. Arguments in RMI vs. Pakistan will take place on March 8, 11, 14 and 16. Arguments in RMI vs. United Kingdom will take place on March 9, 11, 14 and 16. All sessions will be livestreamed on the ICJ website, and transcripts will be available soon after each session. This round of hearings will address preliminary objections filed by each respondent nation. The Court’s 15 justices will decide whether the cases will proceed to the next phase in which the merits will be considered.

100% Renewable Energy: What We Can Do in 10 Years By Richard Heinberg

If our transition to renewable energy is successful, we will achieve savings in the ongoing energy expenditures needed for economic production. We will be rewarded with a quality of life that is acceptable—and, perhaps, preferable to our current one (even though, for most Americans, material consumption will be scaled back from its current unsustainable level). We will have a much more stable climate than would otherwise be the case. And we will see greatly reduced health and environmental impacts from energy production activities.

But the transition will entail costs—not just money and regulation, but also changes in our behavior and expectations. It will probably take at least three or four decades, and will fundamentally change the way we live.

Nobody knows how to accomplish the transition in detail, because this has never been done before. Most previous energy transitions were driven by opportunity, not policy. And they were usually additive, with new energy resources piling onto old ones (we still use firewood, even though we’ve added coal, hydro, oil, natural gas, and nuclear to the mix).

Since the renewable energy revolution will require trading our currently dominant energy sources (fossil fuels) for alternative ones (mostly wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, and biomass) that have different characteristics, there are likely to be some hefty challenges along the way.

Therefore, it makes sense to start with the low-hanging fruit and with a plan in place, then revise our plan frequently as we gain practical experience. Several organizations have already formulated plans for transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy. David Fridley, staff scientist of the energy analysis program at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and I have been working for the past few months to analyze and assess those plans and have a book in the works titledOur Renewable Future. Here’s a very short summary, tailored mostly to the United States, of what we’ve found.

This piece first appeared in YES magazine 

Today is International Women's Day!

9 things you can do on International Women's Day  Today, March 8, is International Women's Day (#IWD2016), first celebrated in 1909. In recent years, the annual event has gained recognition, giving a chance to celebrate achievements in the women's movement and to inspire further progress through both local and international action. The 2016 theme for International Women’s Day is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality."   While too many women all over the word still suffer from violence and rights abuses, it is important to recognize the amazing work Indigenous women are doing in making change happen in all realms of life and in claiming their rights and transforming violence into power and action.    On International Women's Day stand in solidarity with women.  1. Read our issue of the Cultural Survival Quarterly devoted to Indigenous women.      2. Celebrate some of the amazing Indigenous women working to make change happen around the world, like Olga Montúfar Contreras.  Share their inspiring stories #IWD2016.      3. Read UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigeous Women's Report on Indigneous Women and Girls According to a report released in September 2015 from United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Indigenous women all over the world experience a “broad, multifaceted and complex spectrum of mutually reinforcing human rights abuses” due to their particular position of vulnerability amongst patriarchal power structures. Also, read the Special Rapporteur's presentation on on strengthening indigenous women's access to justice and protection against violence.        4. Listen and Share Radio Programs by and about Indigenous Women.  6 spots available on the World Conference of Indigenous Women (English) Ta'Kaiya Blaney speaks on the environment (English)     5. Learn about Indigenous Women's Rights.   Watch and share this video by Asia Indigenous Peoples' Pact.              6. Learn about how to use the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women         7. Learn about the epidemic of murdered and missing Indigenous women. Over 800 Aboriginal women have gone missing or been murdered in Canada in the past 20 years, and their cases are rarely investigated by police. Read Amnesty International's report Stolen Sisters, a report on violence against Indigenous women in Canada.    8. Watch this video on Maasai women's perspective on land rights.     9. Visit the UN Women's Day website.   Find out how to get into the conversation via Twitter and other forms of social media. #IWD  #IWD2016  #WomensDay  #internationalwomen'sday        Thanks to Cultural Survival for these materials.

Global Day of Action on Military Spending

US Militarism’s Expanse and the Need for an International Movement to Cut Military Spending Despite the fact that we inhabit a war culture and machine with a vast reach and capacity never seen before, we must stand strong in opposition to endless war. It falls upon us as peace activists to inspire American people – and people around the world – to call for an end to war, to protest drone attacks and nuclear weapons modernization, to wage campaigns to cut the military, to stand up in our communities to bring attention to the futility of war, and to demand a full focused effort on diplomacy and redirection of resources to meet human needs and protect mother earth. It’s time for the movement for peace and justice to rise again! The Middle East and Central Asia Since 2001, U.S. military interventions have continued in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya, where administration advisors are pushing for boots on the ground as Daesh (ISIS) moves into the chaotic void left by the U.S.-NATO bombings. In Syria, the U.S., Russia and now France - three nuclear-armed nations – are bombing side-by-side and on different sides. While Turkey, a NATO member with U.S. nuclear weapons based on its soil, faces off against Russia, it appears that the U.S. is arming Kurdish Turkish opponents fighting Daesh across the border in Syria. The bombing of hospitals – allegedly by both the U.S. and Russia – remind us that in the chaos of war such events are all too common. The U.S. and European allies also are selling Saudi Arabia – the biggest supporter of terrorism in the world -- billions of dollars of weapons, which then are being used to slaughter innocent civilians in Yemen and repress democracy at home. Europe and NATO In Ukraine and Eastern Europe, the U.S. and its NATO allies and Russia are backing opposite sides in a confrontation involving four nuclear-armed countries. Both NATO and Russia are building up their forces along Russia’s border, and increasing the tempo of exercises of both nuclear and conventional forces. The Obama administration’s new military budget calls for a massive increase in funding to support this dangerous buildup. These military interventions continue with little Congressional debate and no real discussion about the merits (if any) and risks (many) involved – leaving the American people on the sidelines and further endangering U.S. troops in futile, endless wars. The Far East To add to these dangerous conflicts, the U.S. and China, another nuclear-armed nation, are facing off against each other in the seas bordering China and other Asian nations. In January, North Korea conducted its 4th nuclear test (claiming it was an H-bomb). In a show of force, the U.S. responded by deploying a B-52 bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons on a low-level flight over its ally South Korea. North Korea’s subsequent satellite launch has further inflamed tensions in the region. As the U.S., Russia, China and the other nuclear-armed nations spend billions of dollars to modernize their nuclear arsenals, the danger of wars among nuclear-armed states is growing. Cutting Military Spending Total military spending in the Administration’s recently released FY 2017 budget requestcontinues to increase, amounting to nearly $623 billion, including the Pentagon budget, nuclear weapons and aid to foreign militaries. The budget provides $583 billion for the Pentagon alone in 2017, a $2 billion increase over 2016.The Pentagon budget is more than ten times the budget allocated for diplomacy under the Department of State. Compared to $7.5 billion for military efforts to fight Daesh, the budget provides just $4 billion for dedicated diplomacy and humanitarian relief around the region. These endless wars have cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars, while the needs of growing numbers of Americans here at home go unmet. Europe is overwhelmed by the largest refugee crisis since World War II, with huge daily migrations (6,000 people per day) and drownings of people so desperate to escape war zones that they undertake perilous journeys to a place that might be safer. Meanwhile, the United Nations is begging for a mere $550 million in aid for the refugees who are the victims of war.