ICJ weighs legal responsibility for climate change, ‘the future of our planet’ | Weather News
A historic hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague is imminent after more than 100 countries and international organizations presented arguments in two weeks about who should bear legal responsibility for the growing climate crisis.
Leading the effort was Vanuatu, which, along with other Pacific island nations, said the climate crisis threatened its existence.
“It is with a deep sense of urgency and responsibility that I stand before you today,” said Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s special envoy for climate change and the environment, when he opened the hearing on December 2.
“The result of these processes will reverberate for generations, determining the fate of nations like mine and the future of our world,” he said.
Over the next two weeks, dozens of countries made similar requests, with several major oil producers arguing that polluters should not be held responsible.
Sebastien Duyck, a senior lawyer at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), which has been monitoring the proceedings, said that the number of countries opposed to legal responsibility is in the minority.
“The major polluters, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Australia, Norway, and Kuwait, have found themselves isolated in their efforts to game the legal system to serve their interests and protect themselves. in accountability,” Duyck said in a statement.
“It is time to break this cycle of harm and impunity,” he added.
The 15 ICJ judges from around the world must now consider two questions: what are countries 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 when their actions, or lack of action, seriously harm the climate and environment?
Among the countries that gave oral statements during the hearing was the State of Palestine, which joined other developing countries in calling for international law to “take a central place in protecting humanity from the dangerous path of human destruction caused by climate change.”
The Palestinian statement also provided insight into the ways in which Israel’s illegal attacks are causing climate change and harming Palestinians’ ability to respond to it.
“There is no doubt that Israel’s illegal invasion of Palestine and its apartheid policies have obvious negative consequences for the climate,” said Ammar Hijazi, ambassador of the State of Palestine in the Netherlands, on Monday.
East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, testified in support of Vanuatu’s case.
“The climate crisis we face today is the result of the historical and ongoing actions of developed nations, which have benefited from rapid economic growth, funded by colonial exploitation and carbon-intensive industries and processes,” said Elizabeth Exposto, chief of staff. to the prime minister of Timor-Leste, said Thursday.
“These countries, representing only a small part of the world’s population, are facing climate problems,” he added, “and yet, the impact of climate change does not respect borders.”
The hearing comes after 132 countries at the United Nations General Assembly voted in March 2023 to support Vanuatu’s bid to obtain an ICJ opinion on the legal obligations of countries to protect current and future generations from climate change.
Turning to the courts to encourage action on climate change also reflects a growing level of discontent among some governments over the lack of progress in the UN climate talks, where decisions are based on consensus.
The recent COP29 conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, concluded that rich countries committed to contribute $300bn a year by 2035 to help poor countries combat the effects of climate change.
But Climate Action Network International, a network of 1,900 civil society organizations in more than 130 countries, described the agreement as “a joke”, compared to the costs developing countries face as climate change worsens.
As Regenvanu commented in his Vanuatu statement, “it is absurd that the COP failed to reach any agreement to reduce gas emissions”.
“There is an urgent need for a collective response to climate change based not on political aid but on international law.”
WATCH LIVE: Vanuatu and Melanesian Spearhead Group (jointly), South Africa, Albania and Germany open
public hearings in advisory processes on governments’ responsibilities in relation to climate change— CIJ_ICJ (@CIJ_ICJ) December 2, 2024
