The world’s top court has finished hearing its largest-ever climate change case. For the first time, 96 countries and 11 international organizations presented their cases before the U.N.’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) from Dec. 2-13, arguing about the obligations of major greenhouse gas-emitting nations in tackling climate change, and the legal frameworks that could hold them accountable for the climate-related harms they’ve caused. Several countries from the Global South, including small island nations like Vanuatu, Timor-Leste and Tuvalu, argued that climate change has put their existence at risk. They highlighted that a handful of industrialized nations have been responsible for the climate crisis yet have doubled down on fossil fuel extraction and use. Countries including Zambia added that climate change has touched “every aspect” of their economy. The plaintiffs said that existing climate frameworks governing climate change responsibilities, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, have failed to be effective. Instead, they urged the ICJ to go beyond these frameworks and draw from other international environment and human rights laws that are also relevant to climate change, while giving its advisory opinion in early 2025. “This landmark case has shown a shared determination from representatives across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Pacific Island States and even a few European States to uphold and apply the rule of international law in the context of climate change,” Arnold Kiel Loughman, attorney general for the Republic of Vanuatu, said in a statement. Several youth…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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