The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) welcomes the international recognition of Julian Aguon, CHamoru human rights lawyer from Guam, awarded the 2025 Right Livelihood Prize for his commitment to advancing climate justice and Indigenous rights.
This achievement holds particular significance amid Guam’s ongoing struggle with militarisation, environmental degradation, and the denial of self-determination, issues that UNPO has consistently brought before international bodies. Through its recent statements and reports, UNPO has denounced the United States’ military expansion, which continues to endanger ancestral lands and marginalise the CHamoru people, while urging Washington to fulfil its international obligations toward decolonisation as reaffirmed by UN human rights experts.
Against this backdrop, the Right Livelihood Award granted to Aguon, and shared with the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC), stands as a powerful recognition of the link between environmental justice and the right to self-determination.
Their joint efforts culminated in the 2025 International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion, a watershed moment in international law that affirmed states’ binding obligations to prevent and mitigate the harms of climate change. For the first time, the world’s highest court recognised that the failure to act on the climate crisis constitutes a breach of international legal duties, especially toward vulnerable and low-lying nations whose very survival is at stake.
Julian Aguon and his firm, Blue Ocean Law, played a decisive role in shaping the legal strategy that carried the Pacific students’ call for climate accountability from island communities to the ICJ. By framing climate inaction as a violation of fundamental rights, Aguon helped transform the struggle of Pacific peoples into a universal demand for justice, responsibility, and intergenerational equity.
This landmark opinion has since resonated globally, strengthening advocacy efforts within the UN system and setting a new precedent for holding states accountable to their environmental and human rights commitments.
Through his legal advocacy and storytelling, Aguon has amplified the CHamoru struggle against militarisation and ecological destruction. His recognition represents not only a personal achievement but also a symbol of resilience and justice for unrepresented peoples worldwide.
“This award is not only a recognition of Julian Aguon’s work, but of the CHamoru people’s resilience and their call for justice,” said the UNPO SG. “It reaffirms that climate justice, decolonisation, and Indigenous rights are inseparable fronts of the same struggle.”
UNPO reiterates its call on the United States to respect the right to self-determination of the CHamoru people and ensure full environmental and social protection for Guam’s Indigenous population. In line with the ICJ’s landmark opinion, UNPO urges all states to work together to prevent and mitigate the harms of climate change, recognising that it is a shared responsibility of the international community.
