May it please the honorable court.

Your excellency, good morning.

My name is Virn Ivy Del Valle, I have the honor of appearing for the republic of South Africa.

Your excellency, Members of the Court, it is an honour and privilege for me to appear before
you this morning to present our comments on the request for advisory opinion submitted to
you.

1. In today’s proceedings, I will be discussing for 10 minutes the international laws that

protect the rights of present and future generations against risk of deleterious impacts

caused by geoengineering activities. And for the next 5 minutes, I will be discussing

the acknowledgment under the Paris Agreement of the rights of the indigenous

people requiring participatory climate change adaption that takes into account their

traditional knowledge.

2. If your excellences have no preliminary questions/ concerns, I will now proceed with

our submissions. Thank you and may it please the court.

3. Africa, as a whole, is one of the most vulnerable continents due to its high exposure

and low adaptive capacity. African ecosystems are already being affected by climate

change, and future impacts are expected to be substantial. Fifth Assessment Report Part

B: Regional Aspects, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2014 Africa is not a

significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, Africa accounts for only 2–3

percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions from energy and industrial sources.

United Nations Fact Sheet on Climate Change, United Nations Climate Change Conference in Nairobi,

2006

4. Your excellences, for the first issue, the republic of Africa has 3 major submissions:

THE 1972 STOCKHOLM DECLARATION which provides for the rights and
 obligations of people with regard to the preservation and improvement of the human

environment. THE 1992 RIO DECLARATION which protects present and future

generations against transboundary harm. UNDER THE United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), the right and obligation to promote

sustainable development.

1. Principle 1 of the 1972 Stockholm Declaration provides that: The present and future
generations have the fundamental right to quality environment that permits a life of
dignity and well-being.

The declaration recognizes the States’ sovereign rights over their natural resource which
entitles them to exercise effective control over its natural resources and their exploitation with
means suitable to its own situation and most appropriate for its own development. In the
efforts to counteract this global climate crisis, States should take into account the fundamental
right of the people in all generations to a quality environment capable of meeting the needs of
both present and future generations. Measures to ensure the safety of the impacts of such
proposals should be undertaken so as no further harm and damage will be caused.

2. Principle 2 of the 1972 Stockholm Declaration provides that The present and future
generations have the right to the beneficial use of the natural resources of the earth.

The Declaration generally balances man’s rights with his responsibilities. Each
generation is both a trustee for the planet with obligations to care for it and a
beneficiary with the rights to use it. In this case, it should very well be noted that while
this current climate crisis requires urgent responses from all States, and that
geoengineering have the potential to significantly reduce the adverse impacts of climate
change, such measure may not fully reach their intended effects, and will also likely to
incur unintended consequences that may offset the intended benefits and might lead to
further damage and deterioration of the environment.1 Giving the present generation the
license to exploit the natural resources, while compromising the ability of the future
generations to meet their own needs runs contrary to this established principle.

1
Engineering the Climate, UNESCO Policy Brief, 2011
 5. For our second submission, THE 1992 RIO DECLARATION provides that, “States
have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of International
Law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental
policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do
not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national
jurisdiction.”2

This declaration has clearly provided that present and future generations are protected
against environmental damage caused by other States. The transboundary harm origins
from the case of of United States vs. Canada where damage has been caused in the
state of Washington by the sulphur dioxide coming from the trail smelter of a Canadian
corporation. It has been concluded that no state has the right to use or permit the use of
its territory in such a manner to cause injury by fumes in or to the territory of another.
Thus, the arbitral tribunal found Canada liable for pollution that entered the United States.

6. For our third submission, The UN’s Framework for Climate Change, in Article 3
established the right to and the obligation of the Parties to promote sustainable
development. Sustainable development.’ is a principle first defined by The World
Commission on Environment and Development (The Brundtland Commission) in its
report to the United Nations General Assembly, which defined it as “ development
which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.”
Although sustainable development was first applied to the environment, it has been
expanded and reaffirmed by the United Nations to encompass three interdependent
and mutually reinforcing pillars .– economic development, social development and
environmental protection.
Today, the United Nations specifies that protecting and managing the natural
resources base for economic and social development are overarching objectives of,
and essential requirements for, sustainable development. In this light, counteractive

2
United Nations Convention on the Rio Declaration of Environment and Development, Principle 2, June 15, 1992
 measures undertaken in response to the global climate crisis, should be sustainable in
that it allows for the future generations to still benefit from the natural resources.

7. Your excellency, I will now proceed to the second issue. For the second issue, the
Republic of South Africa has two submissions.
8. For our first submission, The indigenous people’s right to participate is set forth in
the Paris Agreement’s Article 5 which states that
“Parties acknowledge that adaptation action should follow a country-driven, gender-
responsive, participatory and fully transparent approach, taking into consideration
vulnerable groups, communities, ecosystems, and should be based on and guided by the
best available science and, as appropriate, traditional knowledge, knowledge of
indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems, with a view to integrating adaptation
into relevant socioeconomic and environmental policies and actions, where
appropriate.”

In the context of the present global climate crisis, measures adopted should not
be limited to the mitigation of greenhouse gases or the temperature reduction,
adaptation of the most vulnerable groups should also be taken into account. For
these adaptation measures to be effective, it is essential that the indigenous
people themselves participate in these efforts and that traditional knowledge,
knowledge of indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems should be taken
into account.

9. For our second submission, THE AFRICAN UNION’S AGENDA 2063 which
PROVIDES FOR A PEOPLE-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT. Its paragraph no. 17. Africa
will participate in global efforts for climate change mitigation that support and broaden the
policy space for sustainable development on the continent. Africa shall continue to speak
with one voice and unity of purpose in advancing its position and interests on climate
change.
While Africa at present contributes less than 5% of global carbon emissions, it bears the
brunt of the impact of climate change. While climate change is typically viewed as strictly an
environmental issue, in Africa climate change is inextricably linked to people’s living
conditions. Changing climate is exacerbating poverty by reducing access to food and clean
water, among other things, while simultaneously having negative effects on health and
security.
As late as April 2007, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
warned that Africa was not acting quickly enough to stem the dire economic and
environmental consequences of greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC, 2007). What this report
seemed to have missed or overlooked is that Africa’s concern about climate change is not
mainly in terms projections of carbon emission and future environmental damages. It is more
about the links between climate change and droughts, desertification, floods, coastal storms,
soil erosion — contemporary disaster events that threaten lives and livelihoods, and hinder
the continent’s economic growth and social progress. The Centre for International
Governance Innovation (CIGI)