logo
Countries must act on climate or face legal action: UN court's landmark ruling

Countries must act on climate or face legal action: UN court's landmark ruling

India Today4 days ago
The United Nations' highest court on Wednesday said countries must address the "urgent and existential threat" of climate change by cooperating to curb emissions, as it delivered an opinion set to determine future environmental litigation.The International Court of Justice said failure by countries to meet their climate obligations could, in specific cases, lead other states affected by climate change to litigate.advertisementThe opinion by the ICJ, also known as the World Court, was immediately welcomed by environmental groups. Legal experts said it was a victory for small island and low-lying states that had asked the court to clarify states' responsibilities.
Judge Yuji Iwasawa said countries were obliged to comply with the "stringent obligations" placed on them by climate treaties and failure to do so was a breach of international law."States must cooperate to achieve concrete emission reduction targets," Iwasawa said, as he read out the court's advisory opinion.He said that national climate plans must be of the highest ambition and collectively maintain standards to meet the aims of the 2015 Paris Agreement that include attempting to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit).Under international law, he said: "The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is essential for the enjoyment of other human rights."Earlier, as he started a just over two-hour reading of the court's opinion, Judge Iwasawa laid out the cause of the problem and the need for a collective response."Greenhouse gas emissions are unequivocally caused by human activities which are not territorially limited," he said.Historically, rich industrialised countries have been responsible for the most emissions. Iwasawa said these countries had to take the lead in addressing the problem.POLITICAL AND LEGAL WEIGHTThe deliberation of the 15 judges of the ICJ in The Hague is non-binding, but it carries legal and political weight and future climate cases would be unable to ignore it, legal experts say."This is the start of a new era of climate accountability at a global level," said Danilo Garrido, legal counsel for Greenpeace.Sebastien Duyck, senior attorney, at the Center For International Environmental Law laid out the possibility of big emitters being sued."If states have legal duties to prevent climate harm, then victims of that harm have a right to redress," he said.TWO QUESTIONSWednesday's opinion follows two weeks of hearings last December at the ICJ when the judges were asked by the UN General Assembly to consider two questions: what are countries' obligations under international law to protect the climate from greenhouse gas emissions; and what are the legal consequences for countries that harm the climate system?Wealthy countries of the Global North told the judges that existing climate treaties, including the 2015 Paris Agreement, which are largely non-binding, should be the basis for deciding their responsibilities.Developing nations and small island states at greatest risk from rising sea levels argued for stronger measures, in some cases legally binding, to curb emissions and for the biggest emitters of climate-warming greenhouse gases to provide financial aid.They had sought clarification from the court after the failure so far of the 2015 Paris Agreement to curb the growth of global greenhouse gas emissions.Late last year, in the "Emissions Gap Report," which takes stock of countries' promises to tackle climate change compared with what is needed, the UN said that current climate policies will result in global warming of more than 3 C (5.4 F) above pre-industrial levels by 2100.As campaigners seek to hold companies and governments to account, climaterelated litigation has intensified, with nearly 3,000 cases filed across almost 60 countries, according to June figures from London's Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.- Ends
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Houthis pledge to step up shipping attacks to pressure Israel on Gaza
Houthis pledge to step up shipping attacks to pressure Israel on Gaza

Business Standard

time32 minutes ago

  • Business Standard

Houthis pledge to step up shipping attacks to pressure Israel on Gaza

The Houthis, who took control of Yemen's capital Sanaa in 2014, have been striking Israel and commercial vessels in the Red Sea after Israel's war with Hamas, which rules Gaza, began in October 2023 Bloomberg Houthi militants pledged to target ships of any company that deals with Israeli ports, escalating their military operations in a bid to increase pressure on Israel to further ease restrictions on the hunger-ravaged Gaza Strip. The targeted ships will be attacked 'in any location within the reach of our armed forces,' a spokesman for the Iranian-backed group, Yahya Saree, said in televised comments. 'All our military operations will be ceased immediately upon the cessation of aggression against Gaza and the lifting of the blockade.' More than $2 trillion of global seaborne trade had passed by the coast of Yemen per year — most of which were ships heading to and from the Suez Canal on journeys between Europe and Asia. Traffic plunged by about 70 per cent after the Houthis began attacking vessels in the area and has remained low despite a lull in attacks in 2025. Israel increased aid distribution to Gaza as it faces a growing international outcry over hunger in the shattered Palestinian enclave. The Israeli army on Sunday suspended some military operations to facilitate the movement of United Nations relief convoys and restored electricity to a desalination plant in Gaza for the first time since March. The Houthis have already been targeting ships that had ties to Israel. Earlier this month, the group carried out attacks that sank two cargo ships, killed three crew members and led to detention of 11 others. These were the first such assaults on merchant vessels since November. Israel has occasionally struck Houthi targets in Yemen in retaliation.

Express View on ICJ verdict on climate obligations: A welcome nudge
Express View on ICJ verdict on climate obligations: A welcome nudge

Indian Express

timean hour ago

  • Indian Express

Express View on ICJ verdict on climate obligations: A welcome nudge

Last week, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that countries are 'obliged' to 'prevent harm from climate change'. The Court was responding to a UN General Assembly request, triggered by a resolution backed by small island states, for an 'advisory' to 'ensure protection of the environment' from GHG emissions. In a process that stretched over two years, the ICJ consulted experts, including those from the IPCC, as well as representatives of nations and blocs such as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, to affirm that 'limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C should be considered the primary temperature goal for nations' and that they are obliged to make 'adequate contributions' to achieve this target. The advisory is not binding on governments, but it could breathe new life into the flailing global climate change negotiations. It could also have significant implications for environmental jurisprudence, enabling vulnerable groups and nations to push for stronger climate action. Ten years after the Paris Pact set the roadmap for climate action, numerous inclement weather events all over the world have shone unflattering light on the absence of a collective resolve to decarbonise the world economy. The UN's annual climate meet has taken important decisions to compensate countries for loss and damages due to global warming-induced disasters. Yet, these meetings continue to be held hostage by decades-long differences over who should contribute how much to the mitigation efforts. Last year's UNFCCC meet at Baku, billed as the finance CoP, was a particular disappointment. Leaders of most major economies failed to turn up, and less than two months after the summit, the US President pulled his country out of the Paris Climate Pact for the second time in less than 10 years. The US did not face any legal challenge for pulling out of the treaty, and developed countries have, by and large, got away with not meeting their financial obligations. The ICJ advisory has not spelt out any consequences for defaulters. However, its strong endorsement of compensation to countries that suffer climate damage could trigger a wave of litigation for damages. In recent years, developed nations have reluctantly acknowledged that vulnerable countries require assistance to deal with climate disasters, but they have rejected any suggestion for reparations. The ICJ's opinion could move the needle forward. The top UN court has also affirmed the salience of the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities'. As rich countries increasingly put pressure on emerging economies, such as India, to assume more global warming mitigation responsibilities, this founding tenet of climate negotiations has come under increasing strain. The ICJ advisory should jolt the historically high emitters and nudge them to fulfil their climate commitments.

CRPF personnel to be sent to Libya to secure Indian embassy
CRPF personnel to be sent to Libya to secure Indian embassy

Hindustan Times

timean hour ago

  • Hindustan Times

CRPF personnel to be sent to Libya to secure Indian embassy

The CRPF will soon send its personnel to Libya, CRPF director general (DG) GP Singh said at the raising day function of the force on Sunday. A CRPF contingent will be incharge of the embassy security and posted in internal security duty, people aware of the matter said, adding that around 50 officers have been selected. CRPF personnel to be sent to Libya to secure Indian embassy Addressing his troops on the raising day function, Singh said, 'CRPF is not only working inside the country but as part of the United Nations missions, it is posted in Sri Lanka, Haiti, Kosovo, Liberia and other countries as peacekeepers. Currently CRPF is there in the Baghdad embassy and is ready to be sent to Libya.' Singh did not share other details of the CRPF's proposed operations in Libya. 'The MHA has asked CRPF to prepare its best officers. Personnel who have experience of working in conflict, notably J&K, North East and Left Wing Extremism Areas(LWE) areas have been handpicked. The teams are ready and will fly out as soon as the clearance is received from the MHA and MEA,' one officer, who asked not to be named, said. Until 2019, the CRPF was posted in Tripoli(Libya) to guard the Indian embassy but the contingent was pulled up after violence escalated in the country due to the civil war there. India reopened its embassy in June last year, after almost five years during which the mission in Tripoli was maintained by a skeletal staff consisting of a gardener and a consular clerk. Prior to the uprising against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, about 18,000 Indians worked in the country. Amid the fragile security situation in Libya in 2014, some 3,800 Indian nationals were repatriated, including six who had been kidnapped by the Islamic State. At the CRPF's 87th Raising Day function, union home secretary Govind Mohan said that the CRPF has set up 149 camps of forward operating bases in core Naxal areas, which have pushed back forced the left wing extremists. Mohan said the ministry has identified challenges with which the CRPF personnel are living in the camps and conducting anti-Naxal ops. 'In the LWE areas, during an assessment we found out the challenges faced by the jawan – drinking water, road connectivity, mobile phone connectivity. The MHA is in mission mode to provide the best facilities at the camps. In some places such as Bastar, Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada where there were no roads all these years. The CRPF has set up camps so we are confident in winning this battle in Central India against LWE. It is our duty that we provide the best facilities at the earliest so that our brave personnel have the facilities and can at least take rest when they return to their camps. The Border Roads Organisations(BRO) is working to build roads in core Naxal areas and made it a priority. The Naxal violence is reducing. It is because of the strength of CRPF that the ministry has resolved to end Naxal violence by March 2021, 2026,' Govind said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store