At the UN, Indigenous leaders tackle how to enforce global climate court rulings

Indigenous communities in the Pacific are facing increasingly devastating storms worsened by warming oceans. Mining operations continue expanding on Indigenous lands in the Amazon. Oil wells in Ecuador keep pumping despite court orders. And at the United Nations this week, Indigenous leaders and advocates are asking: What will it take to force governments to comply with international court rulings that mandate climate action?

Last year, the world’s highest court — the International Court of Justice — issued an advisory opinion saying state governments that contribute to climate change should be accountable for the harm they cause, particularly to small island states. The Inter-American Court on Human Rights issued a similarly sweeping decision last summer, calling on governments to reduce fossil fuel emissions and incorporate Indigenous knowledge into climate policies. 

But the rulings have collided with a harsh reality: Many U.N. member states would prefer to ignore their climate obligations, leaving open the question of whether these rulings can be implemented, enforced, and used to protect Indigenous land and rights. 

“This is a moment of opportunity. These advisory opinions are not symbolic, they are instruments of power,” Luisa Castañeda-Quintana, executive director of the advocacy group Land is Life, told hundreds of Indigenous advocates at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on Monday. “They can and must be used to strengthen Indigenous Peoples’ advocacy at every level. But to do so, Indigenous Peoples must claim them, integrate them into the rights narratives, and take them into every space where their futures are being decided.” 

That gap between legal recognition and enforcement is particularly stark in Ecuador. Magaly Ruiz Cajas, a member of the country’s Judiciary Council who also spoke at the forum, noted that Ecuador’s constitution has recognized the rights of nature since 2008. “In Ecuador, green justice is not an option, it is an obligation,” Cajas said, pointing to court rulings including a 2011 case regarding pollution in the Vilcabamba River. 

But multiple speakers from Ecuador said those constitutional protections haven’t stopped companies from ignoring Indigenous land rights. Juan Bay, President of the Waorani Nation of Ecuador, told the forum that Ecuador is not complying with international or national law to protect Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation or living close to oil wells — actions he called “incompatible with climate action and with the rights of Indigenous Peoples.” Indigenous land defenders in Ecuador have faced persecution and death in recent years, and in February, Ecuador passed a law to accelerate mining that weakened environmental protection requirements, ignoring criticism from Indigenous and environmental organizations. 

The pattern isn’t unique to Ecuador. Albert Kwokwo Barume, the U.N. special rapporteur on Indigenous peoples, identified it across the region in a report last year: “Latin America and the Caribbean presents a paradox. The contributions reveal strong legal frameworks that coexist with persistent failures in implementation,” he wrote. “Even favourable court rulings are undermined by poor enforcement and lack of consultation.”

Resistance has come from more powerful nations as well. Vanuatu and a dozen supporting states introduced a U.N. resolution earlier this year to operationalize the ICJ ruling, calling for fossil fuel phaseouts and climate reparations. In response, President Donald Trump’s administration sent a message to all U.S. embassies calling the resolution “disturbing” and a “charade,” and urging Vanuatu to withdraw the resolution and other countries to reject it. 

Vanuatu did not back down, but the vote in the General Assembly has been delayed until May. 

Joie Chowdury, an attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, said the ruling gave states clear obligations to address climate change. “It remains important to translate that legal clarity now into action,” she said. 

As policy discussions continue, Indigenous Nations in Northern Ontario are dealing with climate-driven flooding,  large-scale evacuations, and contaminated water supplies. “We’re in 2026 right now, and we have Indigenous communities living in a poverty state,” said Ryan Fleming, of the Attawapiskat First Nation. “And it is not just an implementation gap. This becomes a human rights issue.” 

Fleming said the flooding highlights the intersection of climate change and Canada’s failure to honor treaty obligations. 

In Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori lands face stronger storms without increased support. Janell Dymus-Kurei, who is from Te Whakatōhea, spoke at the Forum on behalf of National Iwi Chairs Forum Pou Tikanga, a national group focused on Māori self-determination, and said international courts and forums present an underused opportunity. “We’re just not really making the most of those mechanisms,” she said.

Despite the resistance, legal momentum continues to build. The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights is currently considering a case on states’ climate obligations, including how African governments should handle climate-related displacement. 

Fleming said spaces like the Permanent Forum are crucial for pressuring countries like Canada to honor their human rights obligations. “We understand the importance of leveraging these international mechanisms,” he said.

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline At the UN, Indigenous leaders tackle how to enforce global climate court rulings on Apr 21, 2026.