"On December 2, the International Court of Justice will begin hearings on an Advisory Opinion relating to the Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change. Over 100 countries and organizations will present in 30-minute increments over two weeks. At the request of the UN General Assembly, the #ICJ will determine the existing #FinancialLiability of countries for their contribution to climate change and what actions countries must take to prevent #ClimateChange."
"First, what are the obligations of states under international law to protect the planet’s climate system? Second, what are the legal consequences for countries whose actions or inactions cause significant harm to the environment?
The #ICJ’s advisory opinion, though not binding, is expected to shape future #climate litigation at national and international levels."
https://newscentral.africa/world-court-to-debate-legal-framework-for-climate-responsibility/
"The US and China, the world’s biggest emitters, will make statements too, even though neither fully recognises the court’s authority.
The hearing is the culmination of years of campaigning by a group of Pacific island law students and diplomacy spearheaded by #Vanuatu."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/02/handful-of-countries-responsible-for-climate-crisis-icj-court-told
#ICJ #Climate
Internationally wrongful act
"The #Philippine government asserted before the International Court of Justice (#ICJ) on Tuesday, December 3, that countries most responsible for driving #ClimateChange are committing an "internationally wrongful act."
It called on these nations to provide reparations, marking one of the Marcos Jr. administration’s boldest statements on climate justice."
Fury as US argues against climate obligations at top UN court
“The US is content with its business-as-usual approach and has taken every possible measure to shirk its historical responsibility, disregard human rights and reject #climate justice.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/04/us-climate-crisis-legal-court
The US does not recognise the authority of the court.
#ICJ
"The big issue is: are you liable for the continuing consequences of your past emissions?"
"These stories serve to highlight the historic injustices that underpin climate change and that continue to make some communities, especially Indigenous peoples, more vulnerable to it."
“Many states at the frontlines of the climate crisis reflected decolonisation struggles and established how decisions being made far away from their islands are unjustly devastating the lives of their people.”
"With so many countries speaking at the court, the case has provided an extraordinary insight into climate concerns, grievances and political positions from around the world.
[The #ICJ] will deliver an advisory opinion sometime in 2025.
While this opinion won’t be legally binding - and so can’t force nations to act - it will be both legally and politically significant."
"Thanks to the maneuverings of the tiny nation of #Vanuatu, the entire industrialized world is effectively on trial in The Hague.
Do countries have a legal as well as a moral obligation to prevent a planetary disaster?
In The Hague, the U.S. has argued that there’s really no need for the case. The world already has a mechanism for dealing with #ClimateChange, and that is the travelling road show of international negotiations."
Which has, so far, proved disappointing.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/the-international-court-of-justice-takes-on-climate-change
@CelloMomOnCars Thinking of that atmospheric CO2 graph with COP dates marked on the rising line.
The line curves upward.
Vanuatu has a point.