Climate Change: Action and Law in the Global South

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In her talk at the University of Regensburg, Yi Yi Prue, an Indigenous lawyer from Bangladesh, made an urgent appeal not to leave the poor and marginalized groups behind

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13 June 2023

“Climate action should respect everyone’s rights!” Yi Yi Prue, an Indigenous lawyer from Bangladesh, advocates for those whose voices are not heard. On 15 May 2023, Prue gave a talk in the lecture series Climate Change: Action and Law in the Global South and Beyond the West at the University of Regensburg. She was invited by Rike Krämer-Hoppe, Professor of Transnational Normdevelopment, and Paul Vickers, Managing Director of UR’s Department of Interdisciplinary and Multiscalar Area Studies (DIMAS) and the Leibniz ScienceCampus Europe and America in the Modern World. The passionate climate activist and committed lawyer Prue advocates for the Indigenous Marma as well as Munda and Tamang communities. In January 2020, Prue was among the lawyers and activists who successfully led a complaint at the German Constitutional Court against the insufficient German climate protection measures, the so-called “Neubauer case”. 

Climate and Catastrophes

“I grew up with the effects of climate crisis and was affected myself when a landslide during monsoon took away the houses of our neighbors,” Prue said, the catastrophe still vivid in her memory today. It took place in 2017, leaving a deep impression on her. Monsoons became stronger everywhere, she says, and: “People are suffering.” In her interactive talk with students, Krämer-Hoppe and Vickers, the lawyer offered alarming insights into the environmental situation and people’s lives in Bangladesh and Nepal.
Among those hit by multiple crises caused by climate change is the Munda Indigenous community: Its members make their living as daily labourers in construction, farming, fishing. Their average income is approximately one and a half US-Dollars per day. Recently, Yi Yi Prue has provided the UN Human Rights Office with a report about the community’s situation during the COVID-19 pandemic and about the destruction caused by the climate crisis.

Climate change lecture live from Bangladesh: Yi Yi Prue and Prof. Dr. Rike Krämer-Hoppe in a discussion with students. Credit: Wagensohn/UR

Corruption and Bad Governance

Landslides, erosion, and drought have rendered agricultural efforts almost useless in Bangladesh’s and Nepal’s rural areas. However, most people depend on agriculture for their income. Besides eroded soil, there is bad governance. Many communities experience discrimination, Prue said, for instance when it comes to the distribution of water. “Corruption is a huge problem when it comes to legal proceedings”, the lawyer noted. This was also a major issue when it comes to initiatives regarding renewable energy projects, Prue explained. NGOs teaching disaster management, tree planting or waste recycling projects were important, but still insufficient. It was necessary to invest in better labor conditions, education and infrastructure as well as ensuring political rights. “We need more long-term initiatives and make thereby changes in the community. There is a need to support young people who want to do something”, Prue argued, calling for changes in legislation and governmental action.

According to Yi Yi Prue, climate legislation in Bangladesh is rather limited. Still, various laws in Bangladesh seek to address ecological issues, such as the forest and environment conservation act as well as the environment court act, she says. The country also developed several action plans to address the impact of the climate crisis and adaptation to it, for example the national adaptation plan and a national plan for disaster management. “Both try to find answers how the country can live with the impact of climate change in the future”, argued Prue. This was different from Germany, Prue added, where debates mostly focus on emission reduction and about climate neutrality.

“The objective that global temperature rise must be kept below 2C or better 1,5C by the end of this century to avoid the worst impacts can only be reached if much more issues of climate justice are addressed “, Prue says. She makes an urgent appeal not to leave minorities behind, closing her remarks by mentioning a court decision from October 2021 that took into consideration the rights of Indigenous communities: Norway’s supreme court had ruled at that time that two windfarms in western Norway were harming reindeer herders from the Sami people by encroaching on their pastures. 151 turbines on the Fosen peninsula, whose construction was completed in 2020 and part of the largest onshore windfarm in Europe, had to be torn down. Prue calls for minorities to be heard, seeing this as a way to ensure climate justice: “Climate action? Yes! But in a way that respects everyone’s rights, especially already marginalized groups, like women and Indigenous communities.”

The Global South and Germany

“Could the ruling of Germany’s Constitutional Court in the lawsuit considered to be a big success for the Global South in general?” asked Rike Krämer-Hoppe. That is the case, at least when it comes to the fact that “the Court recognized us, our voices are included”, Prue responded. Nevertheless, governmental action was still missing. According to the activist, elections in Bangladesh were not influenced by climate change, and there was a general lack of trust in the political elites. At the same time, it was a question of awareness, she added. There was undoubtedly the need for that, Prue reflected. When she lodged the constitutional complaint people suggested she should focus on company cases instead: “There you make money, don’t waste time”.
One student asked for Prue’s assessment of the situation in Germany: “If people in Germany would know more about climate – do you think it would help to improve the legislation?”  Prue stated that people in Germany talk more about sustainability than in other countries. “However, I don’t see this sustainable life in Germany.” She assumed that people in Germany would have to push its government more and engage in supporting climate activism. Furthermore, Prue was convinced that it would be helpful if industrial flagships, e. g. large car or aviation companies, changed their approach. Everyone had to contribute. “We only have one planet”, YiYi Prue says passionately, “we have to save it!”
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