The highest court in the world stated on Wednesday that, according to international law, states are obliged to tackle climate change and warned that it could not open the door to recovery.
In a historic statement, the International Court of Justice said that climate change was an “urgent and existential threat” and states had the legal obligation to prevent damage caused by their planet -warming pollution.
Countries that violate their climate obligations committed an “unlawful act,” the court said in its advice, which is not legally binding but has considerable moral, political and legal weight.
“The legal consequences arising from committing an international unlawful act can include … Full reparations to injured states in the form of a refund, compensation and satisfaction,” said ICJ president Yuji Iwasawa on behalf of the 15-Judge Panel.
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This would be case on a case -by -case basis where a “sufficiently direct and certain causal Nexus” had been demonstrated “between the unlawful act and the injury,” the court added.
Campaigners and countries on the front lines of the climate greeted a milestone moment in the battle for accountability of large polluters who are most responsible for global warming.
Ralph Regenvanu, the Minister of Climate Change of Vanuatu, the small Pacific Island Nation who led the case in The Hague, was jubilant.
Regenvanu spoke with AFP outside the court and said it was “a very strong opinion at the end” and better than hoped.
“We can use these arguments when we talk to our partners, some of the highest states. We can say that you have a legal obligation to help us,” he said.
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“This helps us in our arguments. It will give us much more leverage … in all negotiations.”
This was the greatest case in the history of ICJ and was seen as the most consistent in a recent series of historical climate rules.
The United Nations had informed the 15 judges in the ICJ, a UN court in The Hague that assesses disputes between countries to answer two fundamental questions.
First: what should states do under international law to protect the environment against greenhouse gas emissions for the future?
Secondly: what are the consequences for states whose emissions for environmental damage have caused, especially for vulnerable low -lying island states?
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In a detailed summary of the opinion, Iwasawa said that the climate “should be protected for current and future generations”.
The adverse effect of a warming planet “can considerably affect the enjoyment of certain human rights, including the right to life,” he added.
Legal and climate experts said the opinion, although not legally binding, could have far -reaching consequences for national courts, legislation and public debate.
“The clear and detailed articulation of the state obligations court will be a catalyst for accelerated climate action and unprecedented responsibility,” David Boyd, a former UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, told AFP.
Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said that the ruling all nations made all nations on the basis of international law to prevent damage due to emissions of planet -warming greenhouse gases.
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The court pointed out “to the direction of the whole world and made it clear that every nation is legally obliged to resolve the climate crisis,” he said AFP.
Courts have become an important battlefield for climate action, because frustration has grown over slow progress in the direction of curbing the planet -warming pollution by fossil fuels.
The Paris agreement, beaten by the UN framework treaty for climate change (UNFCCC), has collected a global response to the crisis, but not with the speed needed to protect the world against dangerous overheating.
The journey to The Hague started six years ago with students from the climate-imilled Pacific region that was the lack of accountability for the damage that their home countries processed.
The fight laid out large rich economies against the smaller, less developed states that are mostly delivered to the grace of a warm -up planet.
More than 100 countries and groups made submissions in The Hague, many from the Pacific Ocean who gave passionate calls in colorful traditional clothing.
“It is such a perfect end to a campaign that started in a classroom,” said Vishal Prasad, director of the campaign -led campaign that the business started.
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“We now have a very, very strong tool to keep the current responsible, and we have to do that now. The ICJ has given everything possible,” he said AFP in The Hague.
John Kerry, the former American special envoy for climate change, said: “It should not take the stamp of international law to motivate countries to do what is already deep in their economic interests”.
“We need no other reason to act and speed up action,” he said AFP.
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