Extract from The Guardian
The one-time employee with Shell says her legal team will offer its
expertise to Australian climate activists and that the country needs to
do its fair share
The campaigner who helped bring landmark legal action to force the Netherlands to change its climate change policies says the Australian government is “far worse”.
Marjan Minnesma, who is in Australia meeting with legal groups that are investigating the possibility of running similar actions, has called on corporate and political leaders to re-examine their “highly immoral” adherence to a coal-based energy sector.
Minnesma spearheaded the civil law case that in June resulted in the Hague district court ordering the Dutch government to cut carbon emissions by 25% in five years to fulfil its duty of care to protect citizens from climate change.
She said democratic governments reluctant to embrace climate change action “should feel vulnerable because what we did is basic civil law that’s the same in all jurisdictions”.
This included Australia, which bore “so many similarities” with the Netherlands, including a vulnerability to extreme weather events, a vested interest in fossil fuels and a political leadership preoccupied with security, immigration and the economy.
“Also, you say we are just 1.5% of all CO2. Well, we are 0.5% and even the [Hague district court] judge said well, that’s still … a fair amount and everybody should do their own fair share,” Minnesma said.
“The [Australian government] is not doing their fair share. You are far worse than the Dutch.
“You have coal and we have gas. All houses in the Netherlands are run on our own gas, so we have a big fossil fuel industry too.
“And that’s just not a good argument not to do it.
“What do you want to do? Either you be the laggards and start too late or you move to a renewable society and fund 50,000 new jobs and create an economy that’s viable for the next century.”
The one-time employee with Shell said her legal team would share its expertise with Australian counterparts, venturing that about 80% of their research on climate science was applicable anywhere.
“We’ve translated it into English. And you only have to do the last part, how it translates into your system,” she told Guardian Australia.
“Others are now studying it. We have requests from all over the world. What I think is the best thing is people are getting hope again.
“So there’s inspiration and people can think, OK, we still can win and do something against the government – even if it’s a government like some you know very well.”
Sean Ryan, principal solicitor at the environmental defenders office Queensland who met Minnesma in Brisbane on Tuesday, said: “It’s the kind of action we’d love to run and we’re investigating.”
Minnesma said Australian corporate and political leaders should heed the shift to renewable energy sources away from coal-fired power in train in the US, India and China.
“All your markets are disappearing. Are you going to wait till you fall over or are you going to anticipate and move for the next generation?” she said.
Minnesma, whose Urgenda Foundation works with companies on sustainability projects, said she regularly took chief executives to task on this point in private.
“I think the time is over to be nice. I just go straight now. We only have 20 years to make the swap,” she said.
“I’m very nice to everybody else that tries to make the swap [to renewable energy] and I help them to grow. But if you only do bad things, you just get slapped on your face.”
Marjan Minnesma, who is in Australia meeting with legal groups that are investigating the possibility of running similar actions, has called on corporate and political leaders to re-examine their “highly immoral” adherence to a coal-based energy sector.
Minnesma spearheaded the civil law case that in June resulted in the Hague district court ordering the Dutch government to cut carbon emissions by 25% in five years to fulfil its duty of care to protect citizens from climate change.
She said democratic governments reluctant to embrace climate change action “should feel vulnerable because what we did is basic civil law that’s the same in all jurisdictions”.
This included Australia, which bore “so many similarities” with the Netherlands, including a vulnerability to extreme weather events, a vested interest in fossil fuels and a political leadership preoccupied with security, immigration and the economy.
“Also, you say we are just 1.5% of all CO2. Well, we are 0.5% and even the [Hague district court] judge said well, that’s still … a fair amount and everybody should do their own fair share,” Minnesma said.
“The [Australian government] is not doing their fair share. You are far worse than the Dutch.
“You have coal and we have gas. All houses in the Netherlands are run on our own gas, so we have a big fossil fuel industry too.
“And that’s just not a good argument not to do it.
“What do you want to do? Either you be the laggards and start too late or you move to a renewable society and fund 50,000 new jobs and create an economy that’s viable for the next century.”
The one-time employee with Shell said her legal team would share its expertise with Australian counterparts, venturing that about 80% of their research on climate science was applicable anywhere.
“We’ve translated it into English. And you only have to do the last part, how it translates into your system,” she told Guardian Australia.
“Others are now studying it. We have requests from all over the world. What I think is the best thing is people are getting hope again.
“So there’s inspiration and people can think, OK, we still can win and do something against the government – even if it’s a government like some you know very well.”
Sean Ryan, principal solicitor at the environmental defenders office Queensland who met Minnesma in Brisbane on Tuesday, said: “It’s the kind of action we’d love to run and we’re investigating.”
Minnesma said Australian corporate and political leaders should heed the shift to renewable energy sources away from coal-fired power in train in the US, India and China.
“All your markets are disappearing. Are you going to wait till you fall over or are you going to anticipate and move for the next generation?” she said.
Minnesma, whose Urgenda Foundation works with companies on sustainability projects, said she regularly took chief executives to task on this point in private.
“I think the time is over to be nice. I just go straight now. We only have 20 years to make the swap,” she said.
“I’m very nice to everybody else that tries to make the swap [to renewable energy] and I help them to grow. But if you only do bad things, you just get slapped on your face.”
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