NEW YORK: The UN General Assembly Wednesday adopted a unanimous resolution urging the International Court of Justice to outline legal obligations related to the issue of climate change.
After years of efforts by Vanuatu and Pacific islander youth, the resolution asks the International Court of Justice to lay out countries’ obligations for protecting the climate of Earth and the legal consequences they face if they do not follow it.
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, said hailed the resolution as history and said that even if it is not binding, an ICJ opinion will help the General Assembly, the United Nations, and member countries take stronger and bolder climate action that the planet so desperately needs.
Co-sponsored by over 130 member states, the resolution was widely expected to pass.
On the occasion, Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau said that the adoption sends a clear and loud message around the globe and far into the future.
The resolution asks the court to clarify the obligations of nations under international law to ensure climate system protection.
Kalsakau, whose archipelago country was ravaged by 2 cyclones over the course of just a few days, said that member states had decided to leave aside their differences and work together to tackle the big challenge of this time climate change.
Vanuatu began lobbying for climate resolution two years ago, after a drive initiated by a group of students from a university in Fiji city in 2019.
UN panel warning
Last week, the UN’s panel of climate experts warned that global average temperatures could reach 1.5 C above the pre-industrial period by as early as 2030 to 2035, highlighting the need for drastic action this decade.
While countries have no legal obligation under the 2015 Paris Agreement to meet targets of emission reductions, supporters of the new climate resolution hope other instruments like the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights could offer some pathways for enforcement.
