杏MAP导航

By Linda Bordoni

Climate action activists gathered on Wednesday outside the International Court of Justice in The Hague with placards reading 鈥淐limate justice now鈥� and 鈥淓nd fossil fuels.鈥�

The "advisory opinion" it is set to hand down is seen as historic as it could set a legal benchmark for action around the globe in response to the climate crisis.

It comes after years of lobbying, in particular by vulnerable island nations who fear they could disappear under rising sea waters. Thus, in 2023, the U.N. General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion that is a non-binding but important basis for international obligations as it carries legal and political weight, and experts say future climate cases would be unable to ignore it.

A panel of 15 judges was tasked with answering two questions. First, what are countries obliged to do under international law to protect the climate and environment from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions? Second, what are the legal consequences for governments when their acts, or lack of action, have significantly harmed the climate and environment?

The COP15 agreement

In 2015, at the conclusion of the COP15 Summit in Paris, more than 190 countries committed to pursuing efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

One of the texts that provided the basis of discussion for that crucial Summit was 杏MAP导航 Francis' landmark encyclical 鈥�, in which he used both scientific and theological arguments to appeal to world leaders to 鈥渉eed the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.鈥� 

But the agreement has gone largely unrespected and has failed to curb the growth of global greenhouse gas emissions amid widespread extreme weather phenomena and disrupted weather patterns that have resulted in flooding, drought, devastating wildfires and rising oceans due to the melting of glaciers and rising temperatures.