Landmark climate change case heads to UN top court as island nations worry about rising sea levels

The U.N.’s top court heard the largest case in its history on Monday, examining the plight of several small island nations unable to combat the devastating effects of climate change that they say threatens their survival. They hold major polluters accountable.

After years of lobbying by island nations concerned they could disappear under rising waters, the UN General Assembly last year asked the International Court of Justice to issue an opinion on "the obligations of states in relation to climate change".

"The stakes could not be higher. The survival of my people and many others is at risk," said Arnold Keir Loughman, the attorney general of the archipelago nation of Vanuatu.

"As our country's chief legal officer, I come to court because domestic legal remedies are incapable of solving a crisis of this widespread and serious nature," he said at the opening of two weeks of hearings.

"States have an obligation... to act with due diligence to prevent significant damage to the environment, prevent and reduce emissions, and provide support to countries like ours to protect the human rights of current and future generations," he said.

Any decision by the court will be a non-binding recommendation that cannot directly force rich countries to take action to help struggling countries. However, it is more than just a powerful symbol, as it can form the basis for other legal actions, including domestic litigation.

Global mean sea level will rise by about 4.3 centimeters (1.7 inches) in the decade to 2023, with higher increases in parts of the Pacific. The world has warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times due to the burning of fossil fuels.

Vanuatu is among a group of small countries pushing for international legal intervention in the climate crisis but it affects many more island nations in the South Pacific.

Cynthia Honiwusi, director of Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change, which initiated the case, said climate change is destroying the "sacred contract" between generations.

"Without our land, our bodies and memories are separated from the fundamental relationships that define who we are. It is our children and grandchildren who suffer. Their future is uncertain and depends on a few big emitters," she told the court. decision-making, referring to China, India and the United States.

Joy Chaudhry, senior staff attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, said the actions of major polluters causing the climate crisis and its catastrophic consequences are illegal under multiple sources of international law.

Vanuatu's special envoy for climate change, Ralph Regenvanu, told the court that emissions had increased by more than 50% since 1990, reaching an all-time high in 2023. The vast majority of the gas is produced by a handful of easily identifiable countries' emissions. However, other countries, including our own, are bearing the brunt of the consequences.

The Hague-based court will hear submissions from 99 countries and more than a dozen intergovernmental organizations over two weeks. It's the largest lineup in the agency's nearly 80-year history.

Last month, at the United Nations' annual climate conference, countries reached an agreement on how rich countries can support poor countries in fighting climate catastrophe. Rich countries have agreed to raise at least $300 billion a year through 2035, but the total is still short of the $1.3 trillion that experts and threatened countries say is needed.

"The climate crisis is an existential threat to our generation and to the Pacific Islands. It is an existential issue and the world's largest economies are not taking this crisis seriously. We need the International Court of Justice to protect the rights of people on the frontline," Vishal Prasad of Pacific Island Students on Climate Change said.

The 15 judges from around the world will seek to answer two questions: What measures are states obliged to take under international law to protect the climate and environment from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions? What are the legal consequences if government action or inaction seriously harms the climate and environment?

The second question specifically refers to "small island developing states" that may be most affected by climate change, as well as "current and future generations adversely affected by climate change."

Ahead of the hearing, the U.N. climate change body the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change even briefed the judges on the scientific principles behind rising global temperatures.