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Top United Nations court took on the biggest case in its history, hearing the plight of several small island nations helpless to combat the devastating impact climate change which they feel threatens their survival. They demand that major polluters be held accountable.
After years of lobbying by island nations who fear they could simply disappear under rising sea waters, the UN General Assembly last year asked the International Court of Justice for an opinion on “states’ obligations in relation to climate change”.
Vanuatu Attorney General Arnold Kiel Loughman said the stakes “could not be higher” because “the survival of my people and so many others is at stake”.
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“As the chief legal officer of my country, I have come before this court because domestic remedies are unable to resolve a crisis of this scope and magnitude,” he said Monday during the opening two-week hearing.
“States have an obligation … to act with due diligence, prevent significant damage to the environment, prevent, reduce emissions and support countries like mine in protecting the human rights of current and future generations,” he said.
Any decision by the court would be non-binding advice and could not directly compel rich nations to take action to help struggling countries. However, it would be more than just a powerful symbol as it could be the basis for other legal actions, including domestic lawsuits.
In the decade to 2023, sea levels have risen on average by about 4.3 centimeters globally, with parts of the Pacific rising even more. The world has also warmed by 1.3 degrees since pre-industrial times due to the burning of fossil fuels.
Vanuatu is one of a group of small states pushing for international legal intervention in the climate crisis, but it affects many more island states in the South Pacific.
Cynthia Houniuhi, head of Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change, which brought the case, said climate change was undermining the “sacred contract” between generations.
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“Without our land, our bodies and memories are disconnected from the fundamental relationship that defines who we are. Those who stand to lose are future generations. Their future is uncertain, dependent on the decision-making of a handful of high-emitting countries,” she told the court, referring to China. , India and the United States.
Joie Chowdhury, senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, said the behavior of the major polluters responsible for the climate crisis and its catastrophic consequences is illegal under multiple sources of international law.
Vanuatu’s climate change envoy Ralph Regenvanu told the court that since 1990, emissions have increased by more than 50 percent, reaching a record high in 2023.
“A few easily identifiable states have produced the vast majority of historical and current greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.
“However, other countries, including my own, are bearing the brunt of the consequences.”
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The Hague-based court will hear 99 countries and more than a dozen intergovernmental organizations over the course of two weeks. It is the largest line-up in the nearly 80-year history of the institution.
Last month at the annual United Nations climate meeting, countries agreed on how rich countries can support poor countries in the face of climate disasters. Rich countries have agreed to pool at least $300 billion ($510 billion) a year until 2035, but the total falls short of the $1.3 trillion ($2 trillion) that experts and vulnerable nations say is needed.
“For our generation and for the Pacific Islands, the climate crisis is an existential threat. It is a matter of survival, and the world’s largest economies are not taking this crisis seriously. We need the ICJ to protect the rights of people on the front lines,” said Vishal Prasad, from Students of the Pacific Islands who fight against climate change.
Fifteen judges from around the world will try to answer two questions: What are states obliged to do under international law to protect the climate and the environment from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions? And what are the legal consequences for governments if they have significantly harmed the climate and environment through their actions or lack of action?
What sea level rise will look like around the world
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The second question specifically refers to “small island developing States” that are likely to be most affected by climate change and to “members of “current and future generations affected by the adverse effects of climate change”.
The UN’s climate change body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, even briefed the judges on the science behind rising global temperatures before the hearing.
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