{"id":11573625,"date":"2025-07-23T09:25:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T13:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/?p=11573625&preview=true&preview_id=11573625"},"modified":"2025-07-23T18:36:45","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T22:36:45","slug":"un-court-climate-change-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/23\/un-court-climate-change-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"UN\u2019s top court says failing to protect planet from climate change could violate international law"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MOLLY QUELL and MIKE CORDER, Associated Press<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) \u2014 The United Nations\u2019 top court in a landmark advisory opinion Wednesday said countries could be in violation of international law if they fail to take measures to protect the planet from\u00a0climate change<\/a>, and nations harmed by its effects could be entitled to reparations.<\/p>\n

Advocates immediately cheered the\u00a0International Court of Justice<\/a>\u00a0opinion on nations\u2019 obligations to tackle climate change and the consequences they may face if they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cFailure of a state to take appropriate action to protect the climate system … may constitute an internationally wrongful act,\u201d court President Yuji Iwasawa said during the hearing. He called the climate crisis \u201can existential problem of planetary proportions that imperils all forms of life and the very health of our planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Activists
Activists demonstrate outside the International Court of Justice ahead of an advisory opinion on what legal obligations nations have to address climate change and what consequences they may face if they don’t, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in The Hague, Netherlands. (AP Photo\/Peter Dejong)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The non-binding opinion, backed unanimously by the court’s 15 judges, was hailed as a turning point in international climate law.<\/p>\n

Notably, the court said a \u201cclean, healthy and sustainable environment\u201d is a human right. That paves the way for other legal actions, including states returning to the ICJ to hold each other to account as well as domestic lawsuits, along with legal instruments like investment agreements.<\/p>\n

\u2018Today, the tables have turned\u2019<\/h4>\n

The case was led by the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu and backed by more than 130 countries.<\/p>\n

All U.N. member states including major greenhouse gas emitters like the United States and China are parties to the court.<\/p>\n

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the \u201chistoric\u201d advisory opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a victory for our planet, for climate justice, and for the power of young people to make a difference,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cYoung Pacific islanders initiated this call for humanity to the world. And the world must respond.\u201d<\/p>\n

Climate activists had gathered outside the crowded court with a banner that read: \u201cCourts have spoken. The law is clear. States must ACT NOW.\u201d They watched the ruling on a giant screen, clapping and cheering at times during the two-hour hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, the tables have turned. The world\u2019s highest court provided us with a powerful new tool to protect people from the devastating impacts of the climate crisis \u2014 and to deliver justice for the harm their emissions have already caused,\u201d former U.N. human rights chief Mary Robinson said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ICJ\u2019s decision brings us closer to a world where governments can no longer turn a blind eye to their legal responsibilities. It affirms a simple truth of climate justice: Those who did the least to fuel this crisis deserve protection, reparations, and a future,\u201d said Vishal Prasad, director of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change.<\/p>\n

Vulnerable island nations led the lobbying<\/h4>\n

After years of lobbying by vulnerable island nations who fear they could\u00a0disappear under rising sea waters<\/a>, the U.N. General Assembly asked the ICJ in 2023 for an advisory opinion, an important basis for international obligations.<\/p>\n

Its panel was tasked with answering two questions: 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?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stakes could not be higher. The survival of my people and so many others is on the line,\u201d Arnold Kiel Loughman, attorney general of the island nation of Vanuatu, told the court\u00a0during a week of hearings in December<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the decade up to 2023, sea levels rose by a global average of around 1.7 inches, with parts of the Pacific rising higher still. The world has also warmed 2.3 Fahrenheit since preindustrial times because of the burning of fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

\"A
A sea turtle nibbles on what remains of the once vibrant reef at Havannah Harbour, off the coast of Efate Island, Vanuatu, on Sunday, July 20, 2025. (AP Photo\/Annika Hammerschlag)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu\u2019s minister for climate change, called the ruling a “very important course correction in this critically important time. For the first time in history, the ICJ has spoken directly about the biggest threat facing humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the ruling exceeded his expectations. \u201cI didn\u2019t expect it to be good. It\u2019s good. And it did go above and beyond,\u201d he told reporters in The Hague.<\/p>\n

Ruling could be leverage at next UN climate conference<\/h4>\n

Activists could bring lawsuits against their own countries for failing to comply with the decision, which ran to over 130 pages.<\/p>\n

The senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, Erika Lennon, said the ruling also can be used as leverage at the next U.N. climate conference later this year in the Brazilian city of Bel\u00e9m.<\/p>\n