Julian Aguon, a human rights lawyer from Guam, is set to receive the Right Livelihood award on 2 December for his work leading to a landmark International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on climate change. The award, often called the alternative Nobel, will also honour the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC), a Myanmar activist group, a Sudanese aid response group, and Taiwanese civic hacker Audrey Tang.
Six years ago, Vanuatu's foreign affairs minister approached Aguon to help law students seeking climate justice from the world's highest court. Over the years, Aguon and his team gathered testimonies from across the Pacific about climate losses, including from Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. In 2025, Aguon argued the case before the ICJ, which later ruled that nations have a legal obligation to prevent climate harm.
Aguon described the ruling as requiring countries to 'finally and decisively address the climate crisis' and marking a new era of climate accountability. Vishal Prasad, director of PISFCC, said the award is a testament to the determination of unified Pacific Islanders working together to save their home.
Aguon, who founded Blue Ocean Law in 2014, believes the recognition will support a wave of rights-based climate litigation, leading to reparations and compensation for ecosystem restoration. The firm prioritises Indigenous rights and culture, aiming for a 'new legal order rooted in respect, reciprocity, and responsibility to future generations.'
Looking ahead, Blue Ocean Law is developing legal challenges to deep sea mining in the Pacific based on Indigenous guardianship, seeking to defend the ocean as 'kin rather than commodity.' It is also fighting contamination of land and water to protect access to medicinal plants for cultural reasons. Aguon said his work seeks to protect 'Indigenous rights in exceedingly practical, concrete ways.'
