The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has issued an advisory opinion declaring that nations have a legal obligation to protect the environment from greenhouse gas emissions and act to fight climate change.
States that breached these obligations could incur legal responsibility and be required to make reparation for their “wrongful act.”
On Wednesday, the President of the Court, Judge Iwasawa Yuji, read out the non-binding opinion in The Hague, saying that climate change was an “urgent and existential threat” to humanity and countries had a “duty to cooperate” to address it.
“The legal consequences resulting from the commission of an internationally wrongful act may include … full reparations to injured states in the form of restitution, compensation and satisfaction,” the court said, adding that a “sufficient direct and certain causal nexus” had to be shown “between the wrongful act and the injury”.
The opinion, which is over 500 pages long, insisted that a “clean, healthy and stable environment” is a human right.
The ICJ reaffirmed that climate change may lead to the forced displacement of people seeking safety, including those crossing borders.
“[Climate change constitutes] “an existential problem of planetary proportions that imperils all forms of life and the very health of our planet,” the court stated.
“[It requires] human will, at individual, social and political levels to change our current way of life to secure a future for ourselves and those who are yet to come. [The climate] must be protected for present and future generations” and the adverse effect of a warming Earth “may significantly impair the enjoyment of certain human rights, including the right to life”.
The ICJ said that it “hope[s] that its conclusions would inform and guide social and political action to address the ongoing climate crisis.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the historic decision, saying in a video message, “This is a victory for our planet, for climate justice and for the power of young people to make a difference.”
Amnesty International’s Head of Strategic Litigation, Mandi Mudarikwa described the opinion as a “landmark moment for climate justice and accountability.”
“The ICJ made clear that the full enjoyment of human rights cannot be ensured without protection of the climate system and other parts of the environment,” she said.
“The world’s highest court stressed that states have a duty to act now, regulate the activities of private actors and cooperate to protect current and future generations and ecosystems from the worsening impacts of human induced climate change. This unprecedented opinion will bolster the hundreds of ongoing and upcoming climate litigation cases around the world, where people seek justice for the livelihoods that have been snatched away and the damage caused by major polluters.”
Climate advocates are hailing the opinion as a positive step forward for future climate talks in favour of smaller nations who are most at risk to the impacts of climate change, and who hope to litigate against major polluting countries, such as Australia, US, China and India.
Vanuatu, for instance, led a global campaign for the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion from the Court on climate change in 2021, asking the court to clarify the obligations of States had in respect of climate change.
Vanuatu’s special envoy on climate change, Ralph Regenvanu described the court’s decision this week as a “landmark milestone”, but warned that it has not ruled out launching litigation against big polluting countries in the wake of the findings. He also said that he would now take the ruling back to the UN General Assembly to “pursue a resolution that will support implementation of this decision”.
“According to the advisory the ICJ handed down today, Australia is committing international wrongful acts because it is sponsoring, it is subsidising, fossil fuel production and excessive emissions,” he told the ABC.
“It’s a very important course correction in this critically important time,” he said.
“Even as fossil fuel expansion continues under the US’s influence, along with the loss of climate finance and technology transfer, and the lack of climate ambition following the US’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, major polluters, past and present, cannot continue to act with impunity and treat developing countries as sacrifice zones to further feed corporate greed.”
Outside the court, advocates watched the two-hour proceedings, cheering as the court handed down its opinion on Wednesday. Demonstrators were seen waving flags and banners with slogans such as “No more delay, climate justice today”.
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