On today’s 76th anniversary of United Nations Day, the U.N. continues to make an impact in the international arena of global affairs and increasingly on the ground in our islands of Hawaii. The U.N. addresses what matters most in our daily lives and includes the global movement of civil society to ensure our countries live up to their promises of peace and human rights enshrined in the founding document guaranteeing democracy and freedom.

For seven decades, we the peoples have secured decisions illustrating the importance of the U.N. and its relevance for a better future in Hawaii and our world. Today, we honor the multilateral institution and its evolution for our common agenda of equality, equity and ecology.

This month, the U.N. Human Rights Council adopted two resolutions to protect all people and our planet, while the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) decided a case regarding our planet and intergenerational human rights.

All initiatives were ideas from global civil society and grassroots community partnering with supportive states recognizing with urgency and the necessity for unity, on the eve of the Glasgow, Scotland, climate summit next month.

We are living in an unprecedented planetary predicament. In 2021, we witnessed fires, floods, storms, sea level rise, species extinction and scarcity of multiple natural resources.

>> Resolution 48/13 is a historic victory to protect our environment and it’s the first time an international text explicitly recognizes the universal right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment for everyone, everywhere on Earth. Almost 1,500 civil society and Indigenous peoples from 75 countries endorsed and nearly 150,000 children, youth and allies from 144 nations petitioned for the Council to adopt the resolution.

>> A Pacific Island neighbor, Republic of Marshall Islands, along with civil society activists, ensured adoption of Resolution 48/14, which creates a special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change.

Both resolutions recognize climate is a primary human rights concern for the 21st century. The resolutions can be catalysts for coherent constitutional changes and springboard for multisectoral synergies for sustainability and solidarity while shaping emerging global standards.

Also, the U.N. CRC issued a decision brought by children and youth, including Greta Thunberg, against five states — Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Turkey. The CRC accepted argument of extraterrioriality that states are legally responsible for foreseeable harmful results of carbon emissions originating in their country on children outside their border.

The U.N. CRC decisions echoes growing jurisprudence for climate justice in national courts from Germany and Holland to Colombia and Nepal recognizing rights of future generations to a sustainable environment.

The United States secured a seat at the U.N. Human Rights Council election one week after the historical votes. We must ensure our government votes the right way during the three-year term and be a champion for climate justice.

The U.S. should call for a special session on the climate crisis when it begins its term in 2022, on the 50th anniversary of the Stockholm Declaration, the magna carta of environment. It also should ask the Advisory Committee to suggest specific steps for the climate emergency. At home, the U.S. must establish a National Human Rights Institution to bring human rights home through documenting violations and drafting legislations rooted in rights. To assist the NHRI, a permanent federal interagency task force should implement rulings from the U.N. at all levels of government to address gaps.

Our beliefs and more important behavior must begin to build back better in beauty and balance. We can lead the way to a breakthrough for our keiki. We must not be the caretakers that did too little too late. As we celebrate the anniversary of the U.N.’s creation, three actions in October are a significant step in the journey for human rights and climate justice.

Joshua Cooper is a lecturer at University of Hawaii, co-chairs the National UPR Task Force, and is a UNA-USA National Council representative.