New Delhi: In a landmark advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice has said that countries must meet their climate obligations, and failing to follow through could be a violation of international law. Nations that have been historically the worst impacted by climate change may be entitled to reparations, the top United Nations court said Wednesday.
The ICJ in its advisory opinion at the Peace Palace in The Hague said that climate change was an “existential threat”, and countries must act urgently to address it.
“Failure of a state to take appropriate action to protect the climate system…may constitute an internationally wrongful act,” ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa said. He called the climate crisis “an existential problem of planetary proportions that imperils all forms of life and the very health of our planet”.
Iwasawa also stressed that greenhouse gas emissions were “unequivocally” caused by human activities and their impacts are not limited by national borders.
In 2023, the Small Island Developing States (SIDS)—a distinct group of 39 states and 18 associate members of the UN regional commissions that face unique social, economic and environmental challenges—took this historic climate case to the UN’s judicial organ.
When the case was being heard by the ICJ, developed countries argued that existing climate agreements, including the 2015 Paris Agreement, were providing sufficient legal obligations and a new opinion was not needed.
While the ICJ ruling is non-binding, it sets a significant framework for international obligations for climate action. The opinion—of 15 judges of the ICJ—was unanimous, and is also expected to determine the course of future climate negotiations.
According to the ICJ opinion, industrialised nations have a legal obligation to take action against climate change, which, in the case of the most developed countries, becomes even more important considering their greater share in historical emissions.
In what is being dubbed as the ICJ’s “biggest case ever”, the UN asked the ICJ to provide clarity on two primary issues: under international law, what states are obliged to do to protect the environment from emissions, and the consequences for states whose emissions could harm vulnerable island states.
India, in multiple international climate negotiations, especially with respect to the Loss and Damage funding, has stressed the importance of holding historical emitters accountable. As a fast emerging economy, many countries have opined that countries like India and China must also be held responsible for its emissions. But India has vehemently refused this stance.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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