Trapped by floods and fearing death in the heat: the Australians taking legal action over the...
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#1
Ten Australians who have been profoundly affected by extreme weather events are now pursuing unprecedented legal action against the federal government before the United Nations.
十名受到極端天氣事件深切影響的澳洲人，目前正向聯合國對聯邦政府提起前所未有的法律訴訟。
#2
Each claimant argues that the Australian government's persistent endorsement of fossil fuel exports has directly exacerbated the climate crisis, thereby contributing to the devastation they have personally endured.
每位原告都主張，澳洲政府對化石燃料出口的持續支持直接加劇了氣候危機，從而導致了他們親身經歷的災難。
#3
The complaint, which legal scholars have described as groundbreaking, contends that the government has violated its obligations to protect citizens from foreseeable climate-related harm.
這項訴狀被法律學者形容為具開創性，其主張政府違反了保護公民免受可預見氣候相關傷害的義務。
#4
Among the claimants is Brendon Donohue, a thirty-three-year-old Brisbane resident who is legally blind and whose mobility is severely restricted by Peters plus syndrome.
在原告之中包括布倫登·多諾霍，他是一位三十三歲的布里斯本居民，法律上判定為失明，且其行動能力因彼得斯-普拉斯症候群而受到嚴重限制。
#5
When catastrophic floods engulfed Brisbane's West End in February 2022, Donohue found himself trapped alone in his second-storey apartment for ten harrowing days.
當毀滅性的洪水於 2022 年 2 月淹沒布里斯本的西區時，多諾霍發現自己被隻身困在二樓的公寓裡，度過了痛苦煎熬的十天。
#6
Although evacuation alerts had been dispatched to his phone during the night, the building's lift, intercom, and main entrance had all ceased to function.
雖然撤離警報已在夜間發送到他的手機，但該大樓的電梯、對講機和主入口都已全部停止運作。
#7
He recalled that the power outage rendered him unable to contact anyone, and that he eventually ran out of food with no means of resupply.
他回憶道，停電使他無法與任何人取得聯繫，而且他最終耗盡了食物，沒有任何補給手段。
#8
Another claimant, Jack Egan, lost his home in Batemans Bay on the New South Wales south coast during the devastating bushfires of New Year's Eve 2019.
另一位索賠人傑克·伊根，在2019年除夕夜那場具毀滅性的森林大火期間，失去了他位於新南威爾斯南海岸貝特曼斯灣的家。
#9
He described watching helplessly as flames consumed his front deck and penetrated the house through its windows.
他描述自己無助地看著火焰吞噬他的前陽台，並透過窗戶侵入屋內。
#10
Having abandoned his attempts to save the property, Egan fled through a torrent of burning embers to reach safety.
在放棄了挽救財產的嘗試後，傑克·伊根穿過如洪流般燃燒的餘燼以到達安全地帶。
#11
For agonizing hours afterward, he was unable to locate his partner, Cath, and feared she had perished alongside the thirty-three people who lost their lives that fire season.
在隨後令人煎熬的數小時裡，他無法找到他的伴侶凱絲，並擔心她已與在那場火災季節中喪生的三十三人一同罹難。
#12
The couple were ultimately reunited on a nearby beach.
這對夫婦最終在附近的一處海灘上重逢。
#13
The legal complaint, which has been formally submitted to the United Nations, represents a distinctive approach to climate litigation.
這項已正式提交給聯合國的法律訴狀，代表著一種獨特的氣候訴訟方法。
#14
Rather than seeking financial compensation, the claimants are demanding that the federal government be held accountable for its role in perpetuating the climate crisis through continued approval of fossil fuel projects.
原告並非尋求金錢賠償，而是要求聯邦政府為其透過持續批准化石燃料項目而使氣候危機持續惡化所扮演的角色承擔責任。
#15
Legal analysts have emphasized that, should the UN intervention prove successful, it could establish a significant precedent for climate-related human rights cases worldwide.
法律分析人士強調，倘若聯合國的干預被證明是成功的，它可能會為全球與氣候相關的人權案件樹立一個重大的先例。
#16
The question remains whether such international pressure will compel meaningful policy reform in a nation that ranks among the world's largest fossil fuel exporters.
問題在於，這種國際壓力是否能迫使一個名列全球最大化石燃料出口國之一的國家，進行具有實質意義的政策改革。