THE HAGUE — The highest court of the United Nations will take over the biggest case in its history on Monday, when he opens two weeks of hearings on what countries around the world are legally required to do to combat climate change and help vulnerable nations combat its devastating impacts.
After years of lobbying island states who fear that they just might they disappear under rising sea watersLast year, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice for an opinion on the “obligations of states with regard to climate change”.
“We want the court to confirm that the behavior that destroyed the climate is illegal,” Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, who heads the legal team for the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, told The Associated Press.
In the decade to 2023, sea levels have risen on average by about 4.3 centimeters (1.7 inches) globally, with parts of the Pacific rising even more. The world has also warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times due to the burning of fossil fuels.
Vanuatu is one of a group of small states advocating for international legal intervention in the climate crisis.
“We live on the front line of the impact of climate change. We are witnessing the destruction of our land, our livelihoods, our culture and our human rights,” Vanuatu’s climate change envoy Ralph Regenvanu told reporters before the hearing.
Any decision by the court would be non-binding advice and could not directly compel wealthy nations to act to help struggling countries. However, it would be more than just a powerful symbol as it could serve as the basis for other legal actions, including domestic lawsuits.
On Sunday, ahead of the hearing, advocacy groups will gather environmental organizations from around the world. Pacific Island students fighting climate change — who first developed the idea of seeking an advisory opinion — along with World Youth for Climate Justice are planning an afternoon of speeches, music and debate.
Starting Monday, the Hague-based court will hear 99 countries and more than a dozen intergovernmental organizations over the course of two weeks. It is the largest line-up in the nearly 80-year history of the institution.
Last month at the annual climate meeting of the United Nationscountries made an agreement on how rich countries can support poor countries in the face of climate disasters. Rich countries have agreed to pool at least $300 billion a year until 2035, but the total is less than the $1.3 trillion that experts and vulnerable nations have said is needed.
“For our generation and for the Pacific islands, the climate crisis is an existential threat. It is a matter of survival, and the world’s largest economies are not taking this crisis seriously. We need the ICJ to protect the rights of people on the front lines,” Vishal Prasad, a student from Pacific Islands Fighting Climate Change, told reporters at the briefing.
Fifteen judges from around the world will try to answer two questions: What are states obliged to do under international law to protect the climate and the environment from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions? And what are the legal consequences for governments if they have significantly harmed the climate and environment through their actions or lack of action?
The second question specifically refers to “small island developing States” that are likely to be most affected by climate change and to “members” of current and future generations affected by the adverse effects of climate change.
The UN’s climate change body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, even briefed the judges on the science behind rising global temperatures before the hearing.
The case before the ICJ follows a number of rulings around the world ordering governments to do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The UN is in May maritime law court said that carbon emissions qualify as marine pollution and countries must take steps to adapt and mitigate their negative effects.
The ruling came a month after Europe’s top human rights court said countries must better protect their citizens from consequences of climate changein a landmark ruling that could have continent-wide implications.
The Netherlands, the ICJ’s host country, made history in 2015 when the court ruled that protection against the potentially devastating effects of climate change is a human right and that the government has a duty to protect its citizens. The verdict was confirmed in 2019 Dutch Supreme Court.
