UNEP / CHAMPIONS OF THE EARTH 2025 PACIFIC

According to the UN Environment Programme, the Pacific Island Students association made history when they brought the issue of state responsibility for preventing climate change to the International Court of Justice in the Hague. UNEP

• Video Length: 00:04:01
• Production Date: 10 December 2025
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME - UNEP
• Subject Topical: CLIMATE CHANGE; ENVIRONMENT
• Geographic Subject: PACIFIC; VANUATU
• MAMS Id: 3512048
• Parent Id: 3512048
• Alternate Title: unifeed251208x

Description

STORY: UNEP / CHAMPIONS OF THE EARTH 2025 PACIFIC
TRT: 04:01
SOURCE: UNEP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: DECEMBER 2025, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH PACIFIC, EMALUS CAMPUS, PORT VILA, VANUATU

Shotlist

1. Various shots, students, campus grounds. University of South Pacific, Emalus Campus.
2. Various shots, Cynthia Houniuhi, President of Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC) in office on campus.
3. Various shots, Cynthia Houniuhi teaching law class.
4. Wide shot, Houniuhi walking with students on campus, discussing PISFCC activitiies.
5. UPSOUND (English) Cynthia Houniuhi, President of Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC):
“A lot of the times discussions do not reflect the outcomes, they do not reflect the urgency of let’s say a community that needs a seawall to be built as soon as possible because the sea is coming in.”
6. Drone Shot, Houniuhi on speedboat travelling to neighboring islands
7. Various shots, Houniuhi on speedboat travelling to neighboring islands
8. Wide shot, Houniuhi walking with local discussing village problems related to climate change
9. UPSOUND (English) Houniuhi discussing Climate issues with local man:
“He’s explaining that this [area] is way better to live on because the hurricane used to miss this place. But now that they’ve moved it’s even worse down at the new village.”
10. Various Shots, PISFCC members painting and displaying sign urging action against climate change
11. Various shots, community playing in ocean at the end of the day
12. Various shots, Houniuhi portrait looking at ocean during sunset.
13. Drone shot, Port Vila / Vanuatu
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Cynthia Houniuhi, President of Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC):
“Putting humans at the center of solutions is something that we truly believe in. And one way in which we have done that in this campaign and this work is by going to the communities, collecting the testimonies to be presented before the ICJ. So that the solution or the outcome at the end reflects the realities on the ground, and that's the people that are most affected.”
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Cynthia Houniuhi, President of Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC):
“And When you look at the Pacific, climate crisis is not just a climate crisis. it's a human rights crisis. And we want to take it from that lens. You see it in sea level rise which is already forcing people to move from their homes. And these are ancestral lands that they've lived on.
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Cynthia Houniuhi, President of Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC):
“This campaign started with an idea in a classroom. When we were frustrated by the slow process of the climate change regime. We were nervous about if people were going to take us seriously.”

Storyline

According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Pacific Island Students association made history when they brought the issue of state responsibility for preventing climate change to the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

Through the efforts of the student association and the support of states across the Pacific, the court issued a landmark ruling in July of 2025 stating that states had a legal obligation to prevent significant harm to the planet and that failure to do so could lead to legal liabilities.