Landmark climate change case opens at top UN court as island nations fear rising seas

The Hague: The top United Nations court took up the largest case in its history on Monday, hearing the plight of several small island nations helpless in combating the devastating impact of climate change that they feel endangers their very survival. They demand that major polluting nations be held to account.

After years of lobbying by island nations who fear they could simply disappear under rising sea waters, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice last year for an opinion on “the obligations of States in respect of climate change”.

“The stakes could not be higher. The survival of my people and so many others is on the line,” said Arnold Kiel Loughman, attorney-general of the Vanuatu archipelago nation.

“As the principal legal officer of my country, I have come before this court because domestic legal remedies are unable to address a crisis of the scope and magnitude,” he said during the opening session of two weeks of hearings.

“States have obligations ... to act with due diligence, to prevent significant harm to the environment, to prevent, to reduce the emissions and provide support to countries like mine to protect the human rights of present and future generations,” he said.

Any decision by the court would be non-binding advice and couldn’t directly force wealthy nations into action to help struggling countries. Yet it would be more than just a powerful symbol since it could be the basis for other legal actions, including domestic lawsuits.

In the decade up to 2023, sea levels have risen by a global average of around 4.3 centimetres (1.7 inches), with parts of the Pacific rising higher still. The world has also warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times because of 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 nations in the South Pacific.

Cynthia Houniuhi, the head of the Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change that initiated the case, said climate change was undermining “the sacred contract” between generations.

“Without our land, our bodies and memories are severed from the fundamental relationship that define who we are. Those who stand to lose are the future generations. Their future is uncertain, reliant upon the decision making of a handful of large emitting states, she told the court, referring to China, India and the United States.

Joie Chowdhury, senior attorney at the Centre for International Environmental Law, said the conduct of major polluters responsible for the climate crisis and its catastrophic consequences is unlawful under multiple sources of international law. Vanuatu’s climate change envoy Ralph Regenvanu told the court that since 1990, emissions have increased by over 50 per cent, reaching an all time high in 2023. He added that “a handful of readily identifiable states have produced the vast majority of historic and current greenhouse gas emissions.