Summary of Severin Vetter: Globalist road to green poverty | Tom Nelson Pod #230

00:00:00 - 00:55:00

In the YouTube video titled "Severin Vetter: Globalist road to green poverty | Tom Nelson Pod #230," Severin Vetter, an Austrian lawyer, discusses the implications of recognizing a human right to a clean environment and the potential consequences for international human rights law. He explains that while current international law considers deliberate environmental pollution a violation, radical proponents seek to lower CO2 emissions as a human right, which could lead to the subordination of the legal system and economy. Vetter also mentions the rise of climate litigation and contrasting priorities between Europe's goal of carbon neutrality and China's economic growth agenda. The speaker also touches upon the history of climate change in international law, the Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the potential for international law to obligate states to adopt more radical green policies. Additionally, he discusses the unintended consequences of the green agenda, such as green inflation and poverty.

• 00:00:00 In this section, Severin Vetter, an Austrian lawyer with a focus on environmental and energy law, discusses the concept of a human right to a clean environment and the potential implications of recognizing it as such. He explains that current international human rights law already considers deliberate environmental pollution and resulting health harm as violations. However, the radical proponents of this idea seek to lower CO2 emissions as a human right, which could lead to the subordination of the entire legal system and economy. This would have significant consequences, including the potential loss of private property rights and free enterprise. Vetter also mentions the rise of climate litigation and the contrasting priorities between Europe's goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 and China's agenda to become the world's number one economic and military superpower by 2049, which involves opening new coal plants and building infrastructure at a rapid pace.
• 00:05:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "Severin Vetter: Globalist road to green poverty | Tom Nelson Pod #230," the speaker discusses the implications of the global green agenda on international human rights. He begins by explaining that about 15% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions come from steel and cement industries, with approximately 30% originating from China. The speaker argues that the West's green agenda is inadvertently handing world dominance to the Chinese Communist Party. The speaker then shifts the conversation to international law and the role of individuals within it. He explains that international law is a set of laws, customs, and principles governing the relations between states, with sources including treaties and international customary law. The speaker asserts that there is a place for individuals in international law, citing various human rights treaties adopted over the last century. Regarding climate change and its place in international human rights law, the speaker provides a brief overview of the history of climate change in international law. He notes that the influential 1972 book "The Limits to Growth" was one of the first documents to mention climate change and the need to address it. The speaker concludes that climate change is an important issue within the international human rights regime.
• 00:10:00 In this section of the podcast, Tom Nelson discusses how the book "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson set the stage for international environmental law, specifically in relation to climate change. The book, published in 1962, contained alarmist language about irreversible climate changes and helped establish the tone for the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. At this conference, the Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan were adopted, which included the first mention of climate in an international legal document. The UN Environment Program was also founded, leading to the adoption of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution in 1979 and the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer in 1985. These conventions marked the first attempts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established in 1988, and the UN General Assembly recognized climate change as a concern of mankind and called for action within a global framework in 1988. These events led to the Rio Summit in 1992, where important documents such as the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change were agreed upon. The Rio Declaration introduced the precautionary principle, which states that lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures.
• 00:15:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "Severin Vetter: Globalist road to green poverty | Tom Nelson Pod #230," the speaker discusses the Framework Convention on Climate Change and its related treaties, specifically the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. The Framework Convention on Climate Change is a treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, dividing the world into Annex 1 and Annex 2 countries. Annex 1 countries are supposed to adopt national policies to reduce emissions and provide financial support to developing nations. The Kyoto Protocol, adopted in 1997, contained specific emissions reduction goals for Annex 1 countries, with the United States and Canada being notable exceptions. The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, replaced the Kyoto Protocol and no longer contains specific emissions reduction goals for each country but instead sets a global goal to limit the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Countries are required to submit their own emissions reduction targets, known as Nationally Determined Contributions, every 5 years, with each contribution being more ambitious than the last. Activists and some financial beneficiaries of the green agenda argue for a binding International treaty, but many countries are hesitant to join such a treaty due to its voluntary nature. The speaker also mentions the role of International customary law in international relations.
• 00:20:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "Severin Vetter: Globalist road to green poverty | Tom Nelson Pod #230," the speaker discusses the potential for international law to obligate states to adopt more radical green policies. The speaker explains that for international customary law to be binding, there must be constant, extensive, and virtually uniform state practice based on a sense of legal obligation. The speaker then expresses a desire for such obligations to exist regarding drastic CO2 emission reductions and the switch to renewable energy. The speaker also highlights the importance of human rights in international law and how individuals can take their governments to international courts if they feel their human rights have been violated. The speaker then poses the question of whether state inaction on climate change could be considered a violation of a human right. Examples given include a country not criminalizing murder or theft, and a state failing to prevent pollution that affects an individual's right to privacy. The speaker believes that the same logic could apply to climate change, suggesting that a state's failure to address climate change could be considered a violation of human rights.
• 00:25:00 In this section of the "Severin Vetter: Globalist road to green poverty" podcast episode 230 on YouTube, Tom Nelson discusses a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Lima Sorin versus Switzerland. The court ruled that Switzerland's lack of action to combat climate change was a violation of the right to privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court reasoned that the state's obligation to protect individuals' physical integrity now includes the right to effective protection from serious adverse effects of climate change on their life, health, and well-being. The court established five criteria for states to fulfill to avoid violating Article 8, including setting carbon neutrality targets, providing evidence of compliance, and acting in good time and in an appropriate manner when implementing legislation and measures. Essentially, the right to privacy now includes a state obligation to address climate change mitigation.
• 00:30:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "Severin Vetter: Globalist road to green poverty | Tom Nelson Pod #230," the discussion revolves around a controversial European Court of Human Rights judgment that declared the right to a clean and healthy environment as an implied right under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which pertains to the right to privacy. The speaker argues that this interpretation overstepped the boundaries of the court and was not supported by the original intent of the convention. A dissenting opinion by Judge Tim AER, a German judge representing the UK, contended that the majority had gone beyond acceptable limits of interpretation and that the right to a clean and healthy environment was not included in the original convention. The efforts to amend the convention to include such a right have been ongoing but unsuccessful, and the judges had to rely on Article 8 instead. The consequences of recognizing this right, according to a leftist think tank, would include binding rulings, increased enforcement of state obligations, and the implementation of concrete measures to protect the environment. However, Judge AER's dissenting opinion maintains that this interpretation was not grounded in the original text or intent of the convention.
• 00:35:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "Severin Vetter: Globalist road to green poverty | Tom Nelson Pod #230," the speaker expresses concerns about the potential criminalization of resistance to environmental human rights defenders and their agendas. He mentions organizations like Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and Extinction Rebellion, which are well-funded and politically influential. The speaker then discusses a Universal Rights Group article that suggests recognizing a right to a clean environment could lead to more climate litigation and increased protection across continents. This could have significant implications for businesses, as victims of environmental violations would have stronger claims for remedy, and businesses would face financial and reputational risks. The speaker also mentions the European Court of Human Rights trying to force Switzerland to adopt more radical climate change policies despite a rejected referendum. The idea of a standalone human right to a clean environment goes back to the Stockholm Conference in 1972, but the Rio Declaration in 1992 used weaker language.
• 00:40:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "Severin Vetter: Globalist road to green poverty | Tom Nelson Pod #230," the speaker discusses the development of international environmental law and the absence of a recognized human right to a clean environment in UN documents. The speaker explains that while the Rio and Stockholm declarations are non-binding, some of their principles have become international customary law. Notably, the principle of environmental impact assessment and the Le to Pay principle have gained such status. The speaker notes that those drafting the Rio declaration anticipated this development and deliberately excluded language suggesting a human right to a clean environment. The US played a significant role in preventing the adoption of a human rights declaration on the environment in 1994. The process of recognizing a human right to a clean environment gained momentum in 2012 when John Knox, an American international lawyer, was appointed as the UN's independent expert on human rights and the environment. Knox's report, published in 2018, analyzed regional and national treaties and constitutions to find examples of recognized environmental rights. While there are some examples on a regional and national level, the UN's efforts to establish a human right to a clean environment have faced challenges.
• 00:45:00 In this section of the "Severin Vetter: Globalist road to green poverty" podcast episode 230 on Tom Nelson's channel, the discussion revolves around recent United Nations resolutions recognizing the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. In October 2021, the UN Human Rights Council adopted resolution 4813, followed by a similar resolution from the UN General Assembly in July 2022 (resolution 76300). These resolutions, however, are non-binding. The General Assembly then requested an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the obligations of states in respect of climate change and the legal consequences under these obligations. The ICJ's advisory opinions are non-binding but carry significant weight in international law. The podcast host mentions that this is not the first time an international court has been asked for an advisory opinion on this matter. In 2022, a group of countries requested an advisory opinion from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea regarding specific obligations to prevent, reduce, and control pollution of the marine environment in relation to climate change. The tribunal acknowledged the existential threat of climate change and its human rights implications but did not explicitly recognize a human right to a clean environment. Previously, in 2017, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued an advisory opinion on the obligations of OAS members to adopt measures to reduce CO2 emissions. The court had already ruled in a case (LA Oroya vs. Peru) that Peru had violated the right to a clean environment by not taking sufficient measures to protect its citizens from pollution caused by a metallurgical facility.
• 00:50:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "Severin Vetter: Globalist road to green poverty | Tom Nelson Pod #230," the speaker discusses the potential implications of a new advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the right to a clean and healthy environment. He explains that the opinion is likely to define the meaning of Article 11 of the San Salvador Protocol and may contain similar criteria as the European Court of Human Rights. The speaker also notes that some countries, including China, abstained from a UN resolution recognizing the right to a clean and healthy environment, and if the ICJ concludes that this right already exists under international customary law, these countries may argue they do not agree with the idea and are not subject to new emerging obligations. The speaker expresses concern that this could lead to more uncertainty and climate litigation, ultimately affecting prosperity and freedom in the West. He urges the West to resist this trend and acknowledges signs of people questioning and pushing back against climate policies in Europe.
• 00:55:00 In this section of the podcast, Severin Vetter discusses the unintended consequences of the green agenda, including green inflation and poverty. He notes that while some people are becoming aware of these issues, it is primarily those who are most directly affected by rising food and housing costs who are speaking out. Vetter expresses concern that the intellectual elite, who may be fashionably pro-green, are not fully grasping the reality of the situation. He warns that if radical green policies continue in the West, China may gain global dominance.