Global Warming Threatens Planet

Nuptse mountain, Nepal
(PHOTO: Lance Trumbull, Everest Peace Project)

Human activities are damaging our global climate and some of the most unique, valuable ecosystems in the world are suffering. E-LAW advocates and their organizations are using legal tools to challenge climate change and protect natural treasures in Belize, Peru, and Nepal.

E-LAW advocates have filed petitions with the World Heritage Committee in Paris to protect three distinct ecosystems: coral reefs in Belize, a tropical mountain range in Peru, and the majestic peaks of the Himalayas.

These unique, irreplaceable ecosystems are UNESCO World Heritage Sites that must be protected under the World Heritage Convention. Countries that are signatories to the Convention have a legal duty to protect World Heritage Sites for future generations.

The petitions ask the World Heritage Committee to declare the sites “In Danger” and take remedial steps to protect them. The petitions also recognize the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect the World Heritage Sites for future generations.

The Belize Barrier-Reef Reserve System is a vital part of the second largest barrier reef in the world, and provides critical habitat for threatened species, including marine turtles, manatees, and the American marine crocodile. An increase in sea temperatures and atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have already damaged the Reef and will damage it further. E-LAW U.S. is working to strengthen legal protection for the entire Mesoamerican Barrier Reef system, which stretches from Mexico to Honduras.

Left to Right: Godsman Ellis, President, and Candy Gonzalez, Vice President, of the Belize Institute of Environmental Law and Policy, at Laughing Bird Caye National Park. The Park includes a lagoon within the Mesoamerican Barrier-Reef system and has been a World Heritage Site since 1996.

Huascaran National Park, in the Peruvian Andes, is the world`s highest tropical mountain range. This site of spectacular beauty is home to the spectacled bear and the Andean condor. More than 20% of the glacial cover in the Peruvian Andes has been lost since 1968. “Peru’s people have already paid a high toll in regards to glacier-related natural disasters,” says Carlos Soria, an E-LAW advocate with Foro Ecologico del Peru.

Sagarmatha National Park is dominated by Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. The Park hosts several rare species, including the snow leopard and the lesser panda. Himalayan glaciers have been in retreat for decades, resulting in the ominous formation of glacial lakes in the Park that could trigger severe flooding.

Peter Roderick, Director of the Climate Justice Programme and an E-LAW advocate says:

"Glaciers and coral reefs are the canaries in the coal mine. The World Heritage Committee must urgently investigate these sites and ensure that everything necessary is done to maintain their World Heritage status and pass them on, intact, to future generations."

E-LAW U.S. has been working with Peter and the U.K.-based Climate Justice Programme to give E-LAW advocates in Belize, Peru, Nepal, and around the world the legal and scientific information they need to challenge policies and practices that damage the global climate. E-LAW U.S. helped launch and currently hosts the Climate Justice Programme’s website. (Please visit: www.climatelaw.org.)

Grassroots lawyers around the world are calling on E-LAW U.S. to help communities challenge climate change and protect ecosystems for the next generation. E-LAW U.S. thanks the Belize Institute of Environmental Law and Policy (BELPO), Foro Ecologico del Peru, and the Forum for Protection of Public Interest in Nepal (Pro Public) for their pioneering efforts.