My Climate Change News

Heat-trapping emissions are continuing to rise while the gap between what is needed to keep Paris Agreement goals in reach and adapt to ongoing climate impacts is ever-widening. This dire state of affairs is just one of the reasons why the Republic of Vanuatu and more than 100 other nations have drafted a resolution asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue an advisory opinion on climate change.

The Vanuatu-led effort, which was initiated several years ago by law students at the University of the South Pacific, is now coming to fruition. On March 29, the UN General Assembly will vote on whether to support Vanuatu’s resolution. If successful, the vote will invite the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion to clarify how existing international laws can be applied to strengthen action on climate change. Such an advisory opinion would be a major step forward in understanding how to use the courts to promote climate justice and human rights.

Let’s take a look at the questions a climate advisory opinion would answer.

The island nation of Vanuatu and a core group including 17 other countries have been working over the past few months to draft the resolution inviting the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion. In an effort to be as inclusive as possible, they invited all nations to participate in the drafting process. The final resolution, which they recently released, includes a list of current human rights and climate change documents, including the Paris Agreement and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, for the ICJ to consider in its advisory opinion as well as two questions they would like the court to answer. Here is the first question:

“(1) What are the obligations of States under international law to ensure the protection of the climate system and other parts of the environment from anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases for States and for present and future generations?”

An answer to this question would help...