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Pacific Small Island Developing States and other developing nations are mobilising to call for new international legal norms, to ensure that industrialised nations meet their obligations on climate, development and oceans protection.
As governments gather in France for this month’s UN Conference on the Ocean, Vanuatu and other PSIDS have been seeking international court rulings on the responsibility of states for climate action.
From 2021, Vanuatu led an international campaign calling on the UN General Assembly to request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on climate change and human rights. In March 2023, the General Assembly formally asked the ICJ – the world’s highest court in The Hague, Netherlands – to clarify states’ obligations around climate change and the consequences of breaching these obligations.
Laat year, the court received submissions from nearly 100 governments and international organisations, then held hearings and arguments over two weeks in December. The ICJ judges are now considering their ruling, which will be released this year – possibly in coming months.