On Wednesday, the highest World Tribunal said that states were forced to deal with international law to combat climate change and warned that not doing so could open the door to repairs.
In a historic decision, the International Court of Justice said that climate change was “urgent and existential threat” and that states had the legal obligation to prevent damage to their warm -up pollution from the planet.
Countries that violated their climatic obligations committed an “unjustified act”, said the court in its advisory opinion, which is not legally binding but has an important moral, political and legal weight.
“The legal consequences resulting from the Commission of an unjustified international act may include … Complete repairs to the injured states in the form of restitution, compensation and satisfaction,” said CIJ Yuji Iwasawa president on behalf of the panel of 15 judges.
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This would be on a case -by -case basis where a “sufficient and certain causal link” had been demonstrated “between the unjustified act and the injury,” added the court.
Activists and countries on climatic fronts welcomed a striking moment in the fight for the responsibility of the great polluters who are most responsible for global warming.
Ralph Regenvanu, the Minister of Climate Change for Vanuatu, the Pacific Little Island Nation who led the case to The Hague, was jubilant.
Addressing AFP outside the court, Regenvanu said that it was “a very strong opinion at the end” and better than hoped for.
“We can use these arguments when we speak with our partners, some of the emitting states. We can say that you have a legal obligation to help us,” he said.
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“It helps us in our arguments. It will give us much more lever … in all negotiations.”
This was the biggest case in the history of the CIJ, and considered to be the most consecutive in a recent series of historical climatic decisions.
The United Nations had instructed the 15 judges of the CIJ, a United Nations Court in The Hague which warns disputes between the Nations, to answer two fundamental questions.
First: what should States do under international law to protect the environment from greenhouse gas emissions for the future?
Second: what are the consequences for states whose emissions have caused environmental damage, in particular vulnerable island states?
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In a detailed summary of opinion, Iwasawa said that the climate “must be protected for present and future generations”.
The negative effect of a warming planet “can harm considerably to the enjoyment of certain human rights, including the right to life,” he added.
Legal and climatic experts said that the opinion, although not legally binding, could have great scope for national courts, legislation and public debate.
“The clear and detailed articulation of the Court of State obligations will be a catalyst for accelerated climate action and unprecedented responsibility,” David Boyd, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, told AFP.
Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said that the decision has linked all nations by international law to prevent damage to warming greenhouse gas emissions.
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The court “pointed out the management of the whole world and clearly showed that each nation is legally forced to resolve the climate crisis,” he told AFP.
The courts have become a key battlefield for climate action, because frustration has developed on slow progress towards reducing the pollution of warming of the planets of fossil fuels.
The Paris Agreement, concluded by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), joined a global response to the crisis, but not to the speed necessary to protect the world against dangerous overheating.
The trip to The Hague began six years ago with students from the Pacific region steeped in the climate is fed up with the lack of responsibility for the damage that affected their homeland.
The fight has opposed the big rich economies to the smaller and less developed states which are most at the mercy of a warming planet.
More than 100 nations and groups have submitted to the Hague, many from the Pacific who gave passionate calls in a traditional colorful dress.
“This is a perfect end for a campaign that started in a classroom,” said Vishal Prasad, director of the campaign led by students who launched the case.
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“We now have a very, very strong tool to hold responsible power, and we have to do it now. The ICJ has given everything,” he told AFP in The Hague.
John Kerry, the former special envoy of the United States for climate change, said: “He should not take the cachet of international law to motivate countries to do what is already deep in their economic interests”.
“We should not need another reason to act and accelerate action,” he told AFP.
