The United Nations’ top court is set to consider how much responsibility a country has to limit the impacts of climate change.
Hearings in a case initiated by a group of law students from the Pacific Islands will begin in the Netherlands this week.
98 countries will provide evidence to help the International Court of Justice (ICJ) give legal advice “on the obligations of States in respect of climate change”.
The ICJ
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) – also known as the World Court – is the United Nations’ highest judicial body.
The Court has 15 judges, each from a different country, who decide on cases in The Hague in the Netherlands. These decisions fall into two categories: disputes between states, and opinions on legal issues brought to it by the UN.
The ICJ’s rulings are typically binding, but the enforcement of its orders has proven difficult.
The case
In 2019, a group of law students at the University of the South Pacific started a campaign called Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC).
The group’s aim was to have the ICJ hand down a legal opinion about countries’ climate change obligations.
In August 2022, Vanuatu brought PISFCC’s campaign to a meeting of leaders of Pacific countries, including Australia. They agreed to take PISFCC’s request to the UN.
In March 2023, the UN voted to have the ICJ consider the issue. They asked the Court to answer these questions:
- What does international law require countries to do to protect the environment from human-caused climate change?
- If countries are found to “have caused significant harm to the climate system,” negatively impacting small island nations and future generations, what should the consequences be?
Hearings
Beginning on Monday morning (local time) the ICJ will hear two weeks of evidence from 98 countries.
The World Health Organisation, the Alliance of Small Island States, and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries will also give evidence.
Generally, each country and organisation is scheduled to speak for half an hour.
Vanuatu will open the proceedings with an hour of evidence.
What next?
The ICJ generally takes two to three years from a UN referral of an issue to hand down its final advice.
However, this decision involves many more countries and organisations giving evidence than previous cases.
The Court will also have to consider a significant amount of scientific evidence.
For example, last week, the ICJ held a meeting with UN climate change experts “to enhance [its] understanding of… the scientific basis, impacts and future risks of climate change”.
