From Classrooms to Courtrooms: The Pacific Youth Redefining Climate Justice

Holly Otto | South Pacific Fellow

Oliver Hovenden | Climate and Environment Fellow

Image sourced from School Strike 4 Climate via Wikimedia Commons.

Youth-led climate activism has become a defining force in global politics, challenging public complacency and galvanising a generation who demand accountability. Yet, as emissions continue to rise and political promises falter, the limits of protest alone have become painfully clear.

In response to this crisis, young leaders from the Pacific are catalysing change through bold and strategic initiatives. The Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC), created by a group of passionate law students from the University of the South Pacific, successfully launched a groundbreaking campaign to bring climate justice before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). By combining cultural integrity with legal strategy, their unprecedented goal is to clarify states’ legal obligations to prevent and address climate-related harm.

For Pacific people facing existential threats to both their lands and cultures, delay is no longer an option. That is what makes PISFCC’s dynamic evolution from a classroom initiative to global movement so impactful. By taking the fight to the world’s highest legal forum, they exemplify how youth can not only redefine climate activism but challenge global narratives of passive victimisation, proving that even the smallest actors can influence global power structures.

Climate Injustice in the Pacific

In 2015, then-Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton joked about water lapping at the doors of Pacific Islanders. The backlash was swift, with Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, reminding the world that entire communities in the Pacific were already being displaced from lands their families have called home for thousands of years. A decade later, the climate crisis has only intensified, threatening both livelihoods and entire ways of life.

The Pacific region contributes just 0.02 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it faces some of the most severe impacts of climate change. Rising seas, climbing nearly twice the global rate in the region, pose an existential threat to Pacific nations with average elevations of just one to two metres. By 2100, sea levels could rise by as much as two metres, displacing up to 50,000 people annually and jeopardising homes, freshwater supplies, and sacred sites. For nations where 90 per cent of communities live within five kilometres of the coast, these risks are not just environmental but existential.

The crisis extends beyond rising seas. In 2023 alone, 34 extreme weather events in the Pacific caused over 200 deaths and impacted more than 25 million people. Ocean acidification and warming have further devastated coral reefs, undermined biodiversity, and jeopardised food security. These cascading crises expose the inadequacy of global responses to the Pacific’s urgent needs.

Losing ancestral lands also sever the deep connection Pacific peoples hold to their environment – a bond which is central to identity. As Pacific Scholar Frances Koya-Vaka’uta notes, the climate crisis doesn’t just threaten ecosystems; it disrupts the complex genealogies, traditions and worldviews that connect Pacific people to their lands and seas. For the next generation of Pacific youth, this threatens more than a loss of heritage – it places the future of their cultural identities in peril.

Resilience Rooted in Culture

Despite these overwhelming challenges, the Pacific is far from defeated. Generations of ecological wisdom and lived experience have forged a resilience that reflects both survival and a bold assertion of sovereignty and cultural continuity. Central to this resilience is a belief that the health of the people is inextricable from the health of the land and sea. It is this philosophy of guardianship, sustainability, and collective care that guides both daily life and political action.

Pacific communities have long led global environmental movements. From resisting nuclear testing to opposing deep-sea mining, they have challenged extractive and exploitative practices and reimagined a just and sustainable future . Building on this legacy, Pacific youth are blending ancestral knowledge with new activism, moving beyond protest to reshape climate justice with strategies rooted in their culture.

Where Culture Meets Climate: Youth in Action 

As climate impacts worsen and international action stalls, young leaders are taking matters into their own hands. In 2019, 27 law students from the University of the South Pacific accepted a challenge from their professor to use the law as a tool for climate action. Their initiative, PISFCC, emerged as a powerful platform for Pacific youth to confront the existential threats facing their island homes while holding powerful states accountable on the global stage. In a context where youth are often marginalised or tokenistically included in conventional climate spaces, PISFCC stands as a remarkable example of creating change through non-conventional platforms and movements.

What sets PISFCC apart from traditional climate advocacy groups is its integration of Pacific identity and grassroots strategy into legal advocacy. The group’s ethos is deeply rooted in established Pacific values, drawing on traditions like consensus-building and cultural storytelling. PISFCC President Cynthia Houniuhi explained the importance of this approach in her own climate justice journey and how her activism is similarly driven by intergenerational connection to the land and ocean: “The more I learned — not only from books but also from talking to uncles and aunties — the more it became clear that my journey was about climate justice.”

PISFCC’s attitude underscores the inseparability of culture and climate advocacy. By underpinning its legal strategies with cultural integrity and guardianship, these young leaders are forging pathways often overlooked by conventional climate platforms that  resonate deeply with Pacific communities and global audiences alike. In doing so, they demonstrate the transformative power of cultural narratives and collective wisdom in advancing climate justice.

A Grassroots Approach to Global Influence

Recognising the limitations of moral arguments alone, PISFCC sought to use international law as a definitive tool for climate justice. Inspired by Palau’s similar but unsuccessful effort in 2011, PISFCC pursued an advisory opinion from the ICJ on states’ obligations regarding climate change. Although not legally binding, such opinions carry significant weight in shaping international norms, which would offer a potential breakthrough after decades of ineffective climate protests, advocacy and negotiations.

PISFCC’s journey began at a grassroots level, with students writing directly to Pacific Island governments to rally support. They leveraged non-traditional platforms such as social media to grow their online presence and connect with likeminded youth. Vanuatu embraced the cause, collaborating with PISFCC to build an international coalition. When Vanuatu formally adopted the proposal and presented it to the United Nations, PISFCC members joined the national delegation. 

Unlike many governments that marginalise youth movements, Vanuatu’s collaborative approach with PISFCC stands out as a model for genuine inclusion. This partnership highlights how other governments can amplify youth-led initiatives rather than merely tokenising them. With 2026’s COP meeting likely to be co-hosted by Australia and Pacific Island countries, in an attempt to “bring profile to the climate impacts in our region,” organisers should ensure that youth leaders have a key role in setting the agenda, as well as a platform to hear their calls to action. 

Central to this campaign was the use of the traditional Pacific talanoa methodology, a process grounded in inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue. Through hundreds of webinars and direct consultations, PISFCC amplified the lived experiences of frontline voices in the climate crisis. As Houinhi explained, the campaign was deliberately youth-led and community-driven, consistently integrating these Pacific voices through storytelling, music, and art. Such cultural expressions honoured past generations of Pacific leaders while asserting ownership of this novel youth-driven movement. The approach resonated globally, with over 130 countries supporting the resolution. Remaining true to the campaign’s inclusive ethos, even the smallest Pacific nations were represented. From tiny Niue to larger nations like Fiji, Pacific voices united to contribute to the hearings. This collective participation underscores the strength of regional solidarity in navigating global forums.

The ICJ is now poised, for the first time in history, to clarify the legal obligations of states regarding climate change under multiple sources of international law. This landmark case, which attracted a record 98 submissions on what state obligations entail, has the potential to not only empower Pacific nations in climate negotiations like COP, but reshape the global conversation on climate justice. What has emerged from this remarkable journey is a powerful reminder that Pacific Island countries, led by their youth, are driving transformative global change and charting new paths for justice in a warming world.

Redefining The Future of Climate Activism

At its core, this is a story of young leaders who refused to accept inaction. Their journey from classroom to the World Court demonstrates the transformative power of determination, innovation, and cultural resilience in the fight for climate justice. 

The young leaders behind PISFCC have reconfigured what it means to confront the climate crisis. By grounding their advocacy in both cultural integrity and legal strategy, they have amplified Pacific voices on the global stage and set new standards for youth-led activism.

As the ICJ prepares its advisory opinion, the world holds its breath for a decision that could redefine the trajectory of climate justice. Yet, the true measure of PISFCC’s impact transcends legal outcomes. It stands as a reminder that those most vulnerable to injustice can still lead with vision and courage, and have the ability to reform not only climate activism but the very framework of justice itself.

Holly Otto is the South Pacific Fellow for Young Australians in International Affairs (YAIA). She is a recent Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Arts graduate from the University of Queensland, with majors in International Relations and History. Having completed her final semester at the National University of Singapore as a 2024 Westpac Asian Exchange Scholar, she looks forward to commencing work as a Judge’s Associate in 2025. As YAIA's South Pacific Fellow, Holly has highlighted the importance of Pacific literacy in Australia and explored her interests in justice and human rights in plural legal systems.

Oliver Hovenden is the Climate and Environment Fellow for Young Australians in International Affairs. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Laws (Honours) from the University of Tasmania, majoring in Politics and International Relations. As Climate and Environment Fellow, Oliver has used an environmental justice lens to explore the latest international developments in climate law and policy, the impact of climate activism, and Australia’s important role in the Antarctic and Indo-Pacific regions.