{"id":140027,"date":"2025-01-09T11:30:16","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T10:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/?p=140027"},"modified":"2025-01-09T11:45:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T10:45:42","slug":"climate-justice-who-argued-what-at-the-icj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/140027-climate-justice-who-argued-what-at-the-icj.html","title":{"rendered":"Climate justice: who argued what at the ICJ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The hearings in the climate case before the International Court of Justice<\/a> wrapped up last December in The Hague. The court\u2019s advisory opinion is expected within a year. Countries from the Global South and small states from the Pacific hope the law can help save them. While the main polluters hide behind existing treaties to limit their international legal obligations.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

From December 2 to 13, the hearings for the largest case ever before the International Court of Justice<\/a> (ICJ) took place. Over 100 nations and international organisations addressed the judges in the Hague on the legal obligations of polluting states to combat climate change and protect the countries and the communities most affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This compelling legal case is led by the Global South, said Arnold Kiel Loughman, attorney general for the Republic of Vanuatu, in a 13 December 2024 statement, as the proceedings came to an end. \u201cHistorical polluters are responsible for the harm that our small island state and many other nations have been left to deal with as a result of climate change impacts, while uncurbed greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel subsidies and ongoing exploration and extraction from these same historical polluters continue to fuel the climate crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vanuatu, an archipelago of 83 small islands in the Pacific Ocean, spearheaded the 2023 resolution by the United Nations General Assembly to request the UN\u2019s highest court for an advisory opinion on two main questions. First, \u201cwhat 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?\u201d. Second, what are the legal consequences for States which \u201cby their acts and omissions have caused significant harm\u201d to the environment, especially in relation to small island nations and vulnerable communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll rise for climate justice\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the start of the hearings, a few dozen protesters gathered outside the gate of the Hague Peace Palace with banners bearing messages such as \u201call rise for climate justice<\/a>\u201d. Inside the court, representatives, lawyers and legal advisors of dozens of states took place on the benches, some dressed in traditional outfits and a few of the representatives of the small island states wearing necklaces and headdresses made of colourful beads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis may well be the most consequential case in the history of humanity,\u201d said on the first day of hearings Ralph Regenvanu, special envoy for climate change and environment of the Republic of Vanuatu. \u201cOur peoples have built vibrant cultures and traditions over millennia that are intimately intertwined with our ancestral lands and seas. Yet today, we find ourselves on the frontlines of a crisis we did not create \u23af a crisis that threatens our very existence and that of so many other peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe look to the Court for recognition that the conduct which has already caused immense harm to my people and so many others is unlawful, that it must cease, and that its consequences must be repaired,\u201d added Regenvanu addressing the top UN court. His country is part of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, a sub-region of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, which also includes Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and New Caledonia. The islands, as well as many other nations severely impacted by the consequences of climate change in Asia and Africa, echoed Vanuatu\u2019s arguments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis has been a massive and historic moment for climate justice,\u201d Vishal Prasad, the campaign director of the Pacific islands students fighting climate change, said to Justice Info. This youth group came up with the idea to take this case to the ICJ and campaigned for Vanuatu to push the UN to request an advisory opinion. \u201cWorking through this for five years and finally getting to the ICJ was quite an emotional moment,\u201d added Prasad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ICJ advisory opinions are not binding but they bear moral and political weight. And the Court\u2019s opinion, which is already expected in 2025, has the power to influence climate litigations worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The right to self-determination and reparations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, legal counsel for Vanuatu and the Melanesian spearhead group, demanded the Court to also establish the legal consequences of harming other states. On 2 December 2024, she argued that polluting nations should cease that conduct: \u201cThis means not only stopping actions that fuel the fire \u2014 such as expanding, and providing subsidies for fossil fuels \u2014 but also dismantling the systemic structures that drive emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also spoke about assurances of non-repetition, \u201cincluding effective safeguards against false solutions that risk aggravating the harm, such as geo-engineering\u201d, as well as reparations. These can mean restitutions, such as ecosystem restoration, monetary compensation \u201cfor harms that cannot be undone\u201d, and moral recognition, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Melanesian delegation also emphasised how climate change is impacting their right to life, to a healthy and clean environment and to self-determination. \u201cClimate change is now robbing our peoples of their hard-won self-determination,\u201d told the judges Ilan Kiloe, legal counsel for the Melanesian spearhead group, just a few decades after the islands \u201cemerged from colonial rule\u201d. He spoke loudly and passionately, wearing traditional strings of yellow beads around his neck. According to him, the climate crisis goes hand in hand with colonial history, as the many colonising countries are also responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou possess the power to help us course-correct and renew hope in humanity\u2019s ability to address the greatest challenge of our time,\u201d said Cynthia Houniuhi, the president of the Pacific islands students fighting climate change, to the judges on 2 December 2024. Born in the Solomon Islands, a traditional decoration of red beads adorning her head, Houniuhi spelt out the translation for each concept in her native idiom: \u201cIt is upon our land (Mako) that our values and principles are rooted, preserved and transmitted across generations. Climate change is undermining our ability to uphold this sacred contract.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The huge impacts of climate change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The catastrophic impact of the climate crisis on the Pacific communities has been widely documented by the Melanesian lawyers. One of them is Julian Aguon from Blue Ocean Law, a law firm. \u201cThere is a village at the mouth of a river in the gulf province of Papua New Guinea, that is on the roof again,\u201d he said in a press conference at the Peace Palace on 2 December 2024. The people of Veraibari, \u201cwhose ancestors have lived along the banks of the Kikori River Delta since time immemorial, have already moved four times due to sea level rise. This will be their fifth and final relocation. Final, because there is simply no more inland to go\u201d. Aguon stresses that as the sea level rises, burial grounds are washed away, schools and homes are inundated and farming land becomes unattainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impacts are compounding and make it hard for communities to recover, said Prasad. Recent and recurring cyclones and other extreme weather events have in fact cost millions of dollars in recovery to the small islands. \u201cWe seem to be in that cycle of being hit by one climate impact after another, and being in this constant state of recovery. It\u2019s very frustrating and saddening. We\u2019ve known this problem for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is still time to avert the worst impacts if only States can make the necessary cuts to their greenhouse gas emissions,\u201d said on the last day of hearings Eselealofa Apinelu, Secretary General of the Commission of small island States on climate change and international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cbusiness-as-usual approach\u201d of polluters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alternating to small islands and impacted nations, during the two weeks of hearings some countries voiced contrasting arguments. \u201cTo impose any obligations or consequences that go beyond or conflict with those contained in the specialised treaty regime on climate change [the Paris agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/a>, UNFCCC] would risk undermining the integrity of this regime\u201d and impair future progress, Prince Jalawi Turki al Saud said on behalf of the Saudi government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Climate
Like the main polluting states, Saudi Arabia has argued before the ICJ that imposing more stringent obligations or sanctions would run counter to existing treaties, which it considers sufficient. Photo: \u00a9 ICJ-CIJ<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the first day of the hearings, the German representative, Wiebke R\u00fcckert, stated that the Paris Agreement and the UNFCCC are the \u201cdecisive treaties when it comes to determining the legal obligations of States under international law in the context of global warming and climate change\u201d. R\u00fcckert added that in these agreements the countries \u201chave struck a careful balance between legally binding clauses and non-binding political commitments\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China, the world\u2019s largest emitter of greenhouse gases together with the United States, said on 3 December 2024 it hoped that \u201cthe Court will uphold the United Nations climate change negotiation mechanism as the primary channel for global climate governance\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar arguments were made the following day by the US delegation who argued the Court should rely on the Paris Agreement and not establish further obligations than the ones negotiated by the states. Within the Paris Agreement regime, each state can determine its own NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution), a national action plan. According to US Legal adviser Margaret Taylor, the NDC already reflects the \u201cparties\u2019 \u2018common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities\u2019, in light of different national circumstances\u201d. She highlighted that these plans represent an \u201cimportant binding obligation of effort\u201d, but not of \u201cresult\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several European countries, including France, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK, as well as Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden jointly, took part in the hearings. The European Union was also heard on the afternoon of 13 December 2024. Andr\u00e9 Bouquet, legal adviser and member of the legal service of the European Commission said that the group agreed with the centrality of the UNFCCC. He added that \u201cthe EU recalls the inherently non-adversarial character of the advisory opinion procedure before the Court. As such, there should be no scope for findings of established, or even of probable, breaches by States or groups of States\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very saddening to hear those arguments,\u201d said Prasad. \u201cThey want to continue with the business-as-usual approach when the world is burning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop29, a failure for the Global South<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe cannot wait another couple of decades in the hope that climate negotiations will deliver the climate action needed to stop the ongoing catastrophic consequences of climate change, let alone provide remedies for the harm we have already experienced,\u201d Loughman said, conveying a sense of urgency. \u201cHistorical polluters continue to hide behind the safety of the climate regime,\u201d avoiding any real responsibility, he said in his statement. Why founding international laws, such as \u201cthe duty to prevent harm to another state\u201d, should not be applicable in this case, he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ICJ hearings began a week after the end of the Cop29, which took place from 11 to 22 November in Baku, where the richest countries agreed on USD 300 billion in annual funding to help poorer states cope with climate change by 2035. This is three times the current figure of $100 billion a year, but well short of the $1,300 billion a year requested by the Africa group at the COP, or the $1,000 billion a year in public and private money deemed necessary by the group of experts commissioned by the UN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So for many countries from the Global South, the outcome is inadequate and the COP has again failed to reach agreements on adequate funding and on emission cuts. According to the latest UN report, climate-changing gases are accumulating faster than at any other time in history, jeopardising the possibility of stopping warming at 1.5 degrees as set by the 2015 Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hope is that the ICJ opinion will make the big polluters accountable in future negotiations, where for now commitments remain voluntary. Legal obligations, detailed in existing treaties and charters and listed in the UN General Assembly resolution, include among others the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, the Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as the principles and obligations of customary international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helping climate litigations worldwide<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The decision of the judges could also influence climate litigations around the world, whose numbers have skyrocketed in the last decade. According to the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law\u2019s Climate Litigation Databases<\/a>, there have been 2,666 cases since 1986, with around 70% of those filed since 2015. In 2024, two other international climate cases came to an end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2024, the 21 judges of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)<\/a> rendered an advisory opinion that confirmed that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions pollute the marine environment, and that States face obligations to prevent, reduce, and control such pollution and protect the sea from its effects. Just over a month earlier, in April 2024, the European Court of Human Rights gave its judgment in the case KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland<\/a>, affirming that States can be held internationally responsible for violations arising from their contributions to climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe whole world will see the impacts of climate change, it\u2019s an existential problem for everyone,\u201d concluded Prasad. \u201cThe sooner we realize it, the better it is. But our hope is that the world realizes this before the Pacific and many of the frontline communities lose everything they have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Legal<\/div><\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\tThe battle for the climate takes on the ICJ\u00a0\u00a0\r\n\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The hearings in the climate case before the International Court of Justice wrapped up last December in The Hague. The court\u2019s advisory opinion is expected within a year. Countries from the Global South and small states from the Pacific hope the law can help save them. While the main polluters hide behind existing treaties to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":140017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[561,4140],"tags":[3773],"ji_location":[2567,4037],"class_list":["post-140027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-justice","category-international-court-of-justice-icj","tag-climate-justice","ji_location-international","ji_location-vanuatu"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nClimate justice: who argued what at the ICJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Southern countries and small Pacific states are taking their case to the International Court of Justice to hold polluting states responsible for the effects of climate change. 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