Julian Aguon featured in Rolling Stone

Julian Aguon authored a feature essay in Rolling Stone advancing an Indigenous-centered vision of climate justice before the International Court of Justice. The essay drew directly on Blue Ocean Law’s work on the ICJ climate advisory opinion and argued for an approach to international climate law grounded in lived experience, accountability, and reparative justice.

The article described Blue Ocean Law’s work with its client, the Melanesian Spearhead Group, including extensive, team-based engagement with Indigenous communities across Melanesia through ongoing community meetings and direct dialogue. This work involved gathering firsthand accounts of climate harm — including sea-level rise, ecosystem disruption, displacement, and cultural loss — which informed the legal and moral framing of the case before the World Court.

By centering Indigenous testimony and inter-island solidarity, the essay illustrated how international legal advocacy can be shaped by the realities of frontline communities rather than abstract doctrine alone. It emphasized that peoples who have contributed least to the climate crisis are already bearing its most severe consequences, and that international law must confront this inequity through meaningful accountability.

The Rolling Stone essay situates this work within a broader shift in global climate discourse, one increasingly led by Indigenous peoples and Global South states demanding recognition of climate harm and responsibility. It reflects a growing consensus that effective climate law must be built from the ground up, informed by the voices and experiences of those most directly affected.