Thread by @costaavg

How might Climate Change hurt our Constitution?

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First, our Constitutional System is not floating around separate from the Australian Eco-System. It exists within, and is dependent upon, this Eco-System.

If this Eco-System collapses, so too does the Constitutional System built within it.

Second, our Constitutional System is intended to endure for centuries. We think long-term in constitutional law.

So, the question is, what might climate change do to this system in 2100, 2200, 2300 + beyond?

A. FEDERALISM

The States play a central role in our Constitutional System.

They were historically placed across Australia based on ecological considerations. ie. where water sources, bushfire zones, good soil, bad soil, good temperatures, bad temperatures etc were situated.

As climate change shifts these things, our federal map - the shape, size + number of States - might be left in disarray.

[sidenote: @DrAdamWebster has interesting discussion on what might happen to the States (constitutionally) if the Murray River collapses.]

B. CORRUPTION

Climate Change creates food + water insecurity. Judges + MPs (and their running of constitutional institutions) are more vulnerable to corruption as such fundamental pressures on basic necessities escalate.

C. BUSHFIRES, FLOODS + DISEASE

Climate change fuels bushfires, floods + disease. We've already seen small hints of how such factors stifle the efficient running of constitutional functions (parliament, elections, courts etc). We can expect more as climate change worsens.

D. THE PEOPLE

If the worst climate predictions come true, human extinction (or large numbers of deaths) are possible.

The people, themselves, are the foundation of our Constitution. If these predictions come to pass, this foundation, to put it bloodlessly, crumbles.

E. OVERLAPPING CRISES

These burdens on our Constitutional System (bushfires, disease, food insecurity etc) are not expected to roll out neatly, one at a time. They're expected to hit in simultaneous, overlapping (+ forever escalating) ways, each crisis exacerbating the other.

Maybe climate change won't be "so bad" or our Constitutional System will adapt to all of this fine.

This is reckless thinking.

The climate impacts that have already come to pass suggests this is not the case. They have tended towards climate experts' more pessimistic predictions.

Further, our job is to safeguard the Constitution for future generations. We can't just close our eyes + "hope for the best".

Thus, climate change is not just a threat to kids, farmers, the Reef. It's a threat to the Constitution.

Judges, constitutional lawyers + other "guardians" of the document must see climate change in such a manner. It's our job to protect the Constitution from this threat.#auslaw