Insights

What is Juliana vs. The United States of America?

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, youth climate activist

Environmental activist and winner of the inaugural Children’s Climate Prize (2016) Xiuhtezcatl Martinez discusses the landmark climate-change litigation case, Juliana vs. The United States of America, in which he is a lead plaintiff. He is one of 21 youth from across the U.S.A. who have come together in this suit with climate scientist Dr. James Hansen to sue the United States federal government for its failure to protect the health of future generations. By neglecting to safeguard the atmosphere on which U.S. citizens depend from threats such as rising carbon-dioxide emissions, which are closely linked to global warming and climate change in scientific studies and assessment reports, the plaintiffs in this landmark case contend that the U.S. government has violated its fundamental responsibilities to protect the public trust.

No Ordinary Lawsuit: Juliana v. United States is a Landmark Precedent for Climate Change Legislation
Case No. 6:15-cv-01517-TC (D. Or. Nov. 10, 2016) — Juliana v. United States
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez

Bifrost gratefully acknowledges the leadership of the research network NIES, the media arts collective Zoopeople and the sustainability education project Earth Guardians for all their valuable support and work behind the scenes that helped make the interview excerpted in this video possible.

What is Juliana vs. The United States of America?

Environmental activist and winner of the inaugural Children’s Climate Prize (2016) Xiuhtezcatl Martinez discusses the landmark climate-change litigation case, Juliana vs. The United States of America, in which he is a lead plaintiff. He is one of 21 youth from across the U.S.A. who have come together in this suit with climate scientist Dr. James Hansen to sue the United States federal government for its failure to protect the health of future generations. By neglecting to safeguard the atmosphere on which U.S. citizens depend from threats such as rising carbon-dioxide emissions, which are closely linked to global warming and climate change in scientific studies and assessment reports, the plaintiffs in this landmark case contend that the U.S. government has violated its fundamental responsibilities to protect the public trust.

How did you become an activist at such a young age?

Environmental activist, winner of the inaugural Children’s Climate Prize (2016), and lead plaintiff in the lawsuit Juliana vs. The United States of America, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez discusses how he became involved in environmental justice activism at a very young age and how this experience has shaped his life.

What would you say to those who feel they are too small to make a difference?

Environmental activist and winner of the inaugural Children’s Climate Prize (2016) Xiuhtezcatl Martinez reflects on the history of great social change, offering a message of hope and solidarity to those who fear their small voices may not be enough to make a difference.

Why is climate change at the center of your own work as an activist?

Environmental activist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, winner of the inaugural Children’s Climate Prize (2016), explains how climate change in his view is the central issue of our era precisely because it connects to so many other issues that define today’s critical social and environmental challenges, from racism to forced climate migration, from water security in the hinterlands of North American to degradation of our oceans, from LGBTQ rights to the rights of indigenous people. To Xiuhtezcatl these are all part of the same struggle.

Credit: Hartman, Steven, Peter Norrman and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez. What is Juliana vs. The United States of America? Originally published in bifrostonline.org, 30 November 2017 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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What can be done when governments fail to act on climate change threats?

Environmental humanities researcher Steven Hartman discusses the Our Children’s Trust case, Juliana vs. the United States of America, as the kind of innovative thinking and novel approach necessary to counteract government failures to act on climate change. Author Naomi Klein has called the lawsuit, now set to go to trial on 5 February 2018, “the most important case in the world.”