By unanimous vote, the UN General Assembly has approved a resolution asking the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on climate change and human rights (ICJ).
This is regarded as a turning point in the campaign that the Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC) began in a Vanuatu law school classroom more than two years ago.
The Government of Vanuatu advanced it as a diplomatic initiative, working with 18 other countries to develop the initial text and ultimately winning support from over 120 states before presenting it to the UN on March 29, 2023.
under international law to safeguard citizens from the negative effects of climate change as well as their need to respect fundamental human rights.
While being of a non-binding character, it will strengthen efforts to hold states responsible for keeping their climate commitments and in international fora on climate negotiations. It can be used as a significant precedent in cases involving climate change.
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Vanuatu and the Pacific Island countries, who have long pushed for a Loss and Damage fund, which was established at COP27, and who more recently supported a six-nation Pacific region call for a global phaseout of fossil fuels and a Loss and Damage fund, are seen as benefiting diplomatically from Wednesday’s victory.
The International Court of Justice will now receive the resolution and provide an advisory opinion, which will be a first for the Court on the subject of climate change.
“This is not a silver bullet, but it can make an important contribution to climate action. The world is at a crossroads and we as the international community must take greater action. Together we can send a loud and clear message into the future that on this very day, the people of the United Nations acting through their governments decided to leave behind their differences and act together to tackle the challenge of climate change,” said Ishmael Kalsakau, Prime Minister of Vanuatu, as he proposed the draft resolution at the UN on Wednesday.
The development has attracted reactions from civil society.
Tasneem Essop, Executive Director, of Climate Action Network International, said: Today’s adoption in the UN of the resolution to seek an advisory opinion on climate change from the International Court of Justice by consensus by countries is a truly historic moment in our quest for stronger accountability and actions from governments in addressing climate change. This moment has been long in the making. What started as a campaign by Pacific Island students in a law school classroom, and then taken forward by the government of Vanuatu, is now set to go to the world’s highest court.
Story adapted from Aljazeera
