Climate change plaintiffs sail on Rainbow Warrior

BY CHRISTINE HOWES

Australian Climate Case plaintiffs Paul Kabai and Pabai Pabai have set sail on the iconic Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior, on a ‘solidarity’ voyage to Vanuatu in the south Pacific on Monday.

The Rainbow Warrior was sailing from Cairns to Vanuatu in support of an historic campaign to take climate harm to the world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice (IJC).

Through the voyage they said they wanted to build a bridge between the Torres Strait to Vanuatu to strengthen the mutual support between communities.

They said they hoped by working together they could increase the pressure on the Australian

Government and other countries to take climate action to protect their communities.

Joining them on the sail was Anjali Sharma from Vanuatu, who hoped to take the case for her homelands to the ICJ.

Her Government has sought and ‘Advisory Opinion’ from the ICJ which would bolster state action on climate change, complement and strengthen the Paris Agreement, integrate human rights and climate change law, and provide necessary baselines for state action.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific General Counsel Katrina Bullock said they were sailing to collect human impact and testimonies of climate change for the ICJ.

“I’m incredibly fortunate to be here today as part of our Pacific Climate Justice Campaign, a campaign that is pushing to get the