Top UN court says countries can be sued on climate change

AU Financial Review

23-07-2025

The International Court of Justice issued a strongly worded opinion Wednesday (Thursday AEST) saying that states must protect people from the 'urgent and existential threat' of climate change, a major moment for the global environmental movement and for the countries at greatest risk of harm.
It was the first time that the court, which is the United Nations' highest judicial body, has weighed in on climate change.
The unanimous opinion said that the failure of nations to take action to protect the climate system may constitute 'an internationally wrongful act.' It also found that protection of the environment is 'a precondition' for ensuring human rights and cited government support of fossil-fuel production as a potential violation of these principles.
Although the International Court of Justice has no mechanism to enforce an advisory opinion like this on nations, as a statement of legal principles the findings nevertheless could have far-reaching influence on litigation in courts around the world as well as on international negotiations over climate policy and funding.
The United Nations General Assembly requested the opinion after a spirited, yearslong campaign organised by law students from Vanuatu and other Pacific islands. That led to a two-week hearing in December at which more than 100 countries, organisations and experts addressed the court.
The court's 15 judges were asked to address two main questions, including what countries are obliged to do, under existing international laws and treaties, to protect the climate system and environment from greenhouse gases; and what the legal consequences are if, by their acts or omissions, they have caused significant harm. The panel is based in The Hague.
Powerful fossil fuel producers, including the United States and Saudi Arabia, argued before the court that the 2015 Paris accord, in which nearly all countries agreed to limit greenhouse gases, was sufficient to address climate change. Since then, President Donald Trump has withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement.
The court's opinion went further than many lawyers had expected. The judges found that all states have the obligation to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times, a threshold laid out in the Paris Agreement.
Environmental groups hailed the decision. 'This decision gives moral and legal heft to all of us around the world fighting for the swift transition off fossil fuels,' said Jean Su, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's energy justice program.