La vertu par les dommages et intérêts ?

Mark Lynas, auteur de High Tide: How Climate Crisis is Engulfing our Planet, signale dans The Independent de ce matin l’un des points importants de la lutte autour de la crise climatique (ceux qui veulent agir contre et ceux qui ne veulent pas, ces derniers aux USA principalement): l’action légale. Lynas cite le cas de la petite île de Tuvalu, menacée d’être submergée par la montée des eaux des océans et qui pourrait en faire un cas d’action juridique aux USA. Des résultats juridiques du point de vue des dommages et intérêts pourraient aider à ce que les USA reconsidèrent leur politique. A côté du tragique du cas et de la stupidité du système responsable, la chose ne manquerait pas d’ironie.

«  So, although a judgment against it would be largely symbolic, the legal action does raise the spectre of future damages claims against the US and its corporations — like those faced by tobacco companies — from people around the world who have suffered hardships as a result of global warming; damages claims which could eventually run into billions of dollars. The tiny Pacific island state of Tuvalu, which has already considered legal action, will be watching carefully. In Tuvalu's case, its physical existence is called into question by rising sea levels — and damages claims for the annihilation of an entire country could prove to be very expensive indeed.

» Any legal movement by Tuvalu will also be given added weight by reports of other island peoples already being forced out of their homes by rising tides. In Vanuatu, 100 villagers have been moved inland due to high tides and coastal erosion, while in Papua New Guinea's Cartaret Islands, more than 2,000 people are likely to be evacuated to neighbouring Bougainville during 2006 because of similar flooding problems. »

Mis en ligne le 2 janvier 2006 à 07H24