A Law for Our Time: Why the World Needs a New Convention on Climate Change

Every transformative era in human history has led to new laws – laws born not of abstract ideals, but of lived suffering, collective reflection, and the urgent need to protect human dignity.

The Battle of Solferino in 1859 gave birth to the Geneva Conventions, setting the foundation for international humanitarian law and offering a glimmer of humanity in the midst of war. The devastation of two world wars led to the Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and to the establishment of institutions aimed at preventing the return of such destruction. These hard-won rules have saved lives, set standards, and reminded us that even in the darkest moments, compassion and responsibility must guide our actions.

In Leticia, Amazonas, the Colombian Red Cross, its Amazonas branch as well as the IFRC launched the Knowledge Systems Dialogue with Indigenous communities.

Through this dialogue, we reaffirm our commitment to advancing the Alliance for the Amazon. This long-term vision, centred on regional co-leadership and locally driven action to adapt to climate change and reduce risks to livelihoods, human health, and ecosystems in this unique and vital region.

Today, we face a new and growing threat – one that does not drop bombs or fire bullets, but creeps into every corner of life: the climate crisis. We are no longer debating whether the climate is changing. We are living it.

This summer, Europe experienced record-breaking heatwaves, with temperatures pushing vulnerable populations – older persons, young children, and people living in inadequate housing – into dangerous territory. Across the Global South, floods, droughts, cyclones, and rising sea levels are becoming more frequent and more destructive. In small island developing states, the question is no longer when climate change will strike, but whether they will still exist in a generation. For communities living at the edge of poverty or conflict, climate shocks are tipping points that push people into deeper vulnerability, displacement, and despair.

And yet, our legal systems have not caught up. Yes, we have the Paris Agreement. Yes, we have national adaptation strategies. But they are not enough. It is time to start working on a new law – one that places both people and the planet at its heart.

A new Law on Climate Change must recognize the rights of people to live in safety and dignity, free from the worst harms of a changing climate. But it must also go further: it must recognize that our fates are inseparably tied to the health of the Earth itself. We are not separate from nature. We are part of it. The well-being of future generations depends not only on protecting ourselves from climate-induced disasters, but on repairing our relationship with the natural world.

Such a law should enshrine the responsibility of states, corporations, and communities to take urgent action to reduce emissions, adapt to rising risks, and support those already suffering the consequences of inaction. It should include legal recognition of loss and damage, climate-related displacement, and the disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations. But it should also affirm that we each have a duty of care to one another, and to the Earth that sustains us.

Because the climate crisis is not just a failure of policy or technology. It is also a failure of solidarity and of imagination. We have failed to see that protecting humanity means protecting the ecosystems we depend on. We have failed to see that the suffering of those on the frontlines of climate change is a warning to all of us.

Just as we have people advocating for human rights, we now need those who will advocate for the rights of nature itself. We need nature envoys – individuals or institutions who will speak on behalf of rivers, forests, oceans, and future generations. Voices not driven by profit or politics, but by the moral imperative to protect the living systems on which all life depends. Because if nature has no legal voice, then we risk making decisions that will continue to silence it until it speaks back through catastrophe.

We need rules. We need rights. We need recourse.

Liana Ghukasyan

This is not a radical idea. This is a new thinking. This is the next logical, moral, and legal step in our collective evolution.

Every year, we respond to disasters made more severe by climate-related hazards. Every year, the gap between humanitarian need and response grows wider. And every year, those hit hardest are those who did the least to cause the problem. If we are to meet the scale of the challenge, we cannot rely on voluntary measures or goodwill alone. 

We need rules. We need rights. We need recourse.

The world has two rare and timely opportunities to advance this thinking. COP30 on Climate Change in Brazil in 2025 and the Biodiversity COP17 in Armenia in 2026 offer a powerful moment of convergence. Climate and nature are not separate domains; they are profoundly interconnected.

These two COPs can, and must, champion a shared agenda for a new legal and ethical framework – one that recognizes both the right to live free from climate-induced harm and the obligation to protect the ecosystems that sustain us. They should be the beginning of a serious, inclusive, and global conversation about a new international legal instrument on climate change – one that centres on human dignity, solidarity, and justice.

Just as the Geneva Conventions once redefined our responsibilities in war, it is time for a new convention that redefines our responsibilities in the age of climate breakdown. Because climate change is no longer just a question of science or policy.

It is a question of law. 

A question of justice.

And it is a question of survival.

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A Law for Our Time: Why the World Needs a New Convention on Climate Change, by Liana Ghukasyan, 01.07.2025

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this opinion piece belong to the author and do not represent the official position of the organization with which she is affiliated.