ICJ to rule on nations' legal responsibility regarding climate change
July 23 (UPI) -- The International Court of Justice was set to hand down a landmark ruling Wednesday on what, if anything, nations are legally obligated to do to prevent climate change and whether they are liable for the harm already caused by their emissions.
ICJ President Judge Iwasawa Yuji, will read out the opinion of the 15-judge bench -- which is advisory only -- in open court this afternoon, wrapping up seven months of deliberations in a case brought by the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, according to a court news release.
The decision of the U.N. court, which could establish a legal benchmark for action on the climate crisis, comes more than two years after Vanuatu successfully lobbied the U.N. General Assembly to vote to seek the opinion of the ICJ.
After years of lobbying by Vanuatu, one of several nations under threat from sea-level rise, particularly in the South Pacific, was able to get in front of justices the question of what international law says about countries' obligations to protect the climate from man-made carbon emissions.
It was also able to get their view on the legal consequences for governments when their acts, or lack of action, have caused significant climatic and environmental damage.
Testifying in The Hague back in December, Vanuatu Climate Change Special Envoy Ralph Regenvanu said the proceedings could prove "the most consequential case in the history of humanity," while Attorney General Arnold Kiel Loughman said the stakes were sky high.
"The survival of my people and so many others is on the line," he told the court.
Average global sea level has risen 1.7 inches in the 10-year period to 2023, with higher increases in some areas of the Pacific Ocean, driven by a 1.3 degrees Celsius global temperature rise compared to the period before humans began burning large amounts of fossil fuels with the advent of industrialization.
Major oil and gas producers, including the United States and Russia, take strong issue with the ICJ's involvement, but Wednesday's ruling in principle caps off a run of incremental gains, including a case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica.
The IACHR ruled that countries were legally bound to avoid harming the environment, protect ecosystems and rehabilitate those damaged by human activity.
In 2024, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg handed down a precedent ordering countries to do more to reduce the "serious adverse effects" of climate change on their populations.
The case brought by a Swiss women's organization alleged that their government's climate policies violated human rights law entitling them to "a private and family life" because older women in particular were more vulnerable to climate change as they were more likely to die in heatwaves.
They successfully argued that the Swiss government was not taking sufficient action to address, mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
6 hours ago
- Politico
Allies use F-35s as leverage against Trump's tariffs
'For Sánchez, it's just very convenient to play Trump's victim,' the person said. The Swiss deal to buy 36 F-35 jets squeaked through a 2021 referendum with just over 50 percent support, and new tariffs reignited the political fight. Swiss lawmakers pushed to cancel the purchase when U.S. tariffs hit 39 percent , but the government on Wednesday reaffirmed its intent to buy the jets and ordered a review. A decision is due in November. Swiss officials said they can't pin down a final price because the U.S. has not agreed to one, leaving the contract open to swings in inflation, higher raw material costs and customs duties — which could add as much as $1.6 billion. Other prospective buyers, such as Portugal, have delayed decisions amid doubts over U.S. reliability. Lockheed Martin noted that the United Kingdom, Denmark and Belgium have each recently announced their intent to buy at least 10 F-35s. 'Foreign military sales are government-to-government transactions, and this matter is best addressed by the U.S. or country governments,' Lockheed spokesperson Jacqueline Lorenzetti said. The White House defended Trump's tariffs as an economic boon and noted that he pushed NATO's defense spending pledge to 5 percent of GDP, which is expected to benefit U.S. arms makers. 'President Trump has done more to support America's military industrial base than any president in decades — including by selling American-made weapons to NATO allies, which will generate billions of dollars for American companies,' White House spokesperson Kush Desai said. The loss of orders from Spain or even Switzerland would have little immediate impact on production, according to one former Pentagon official, who was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. Those aircraft wouldn't reach the line for more than a year, and other customers could easily step in to take their place.
The Hill
7 hours ago
- The Hill
In his words: Trump's rhetoric about Zelenskyy and Putin has evolved
U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly said during his successful campaign for a second term that he could end the war in Ukraine 'in 24 hours.' But since his Jan. 20 inauguration, the road to a peace deal has been fraught with changing dynamics among Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. A summit between Trump and Putin set for Friday in Alaska could now be a pivotal moment in the 3 1/2-year-old war. 'At the end of that meeting, probably the first two minutes, I'll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made,' Trump said Monday. Trump's rhetoric toward both Zelenskyy and Putin has evolved this year. At the start of his second term, Trump was conciliatory toward Putin, for whom he has long shown admiration. But as Putin remained intransigent and rejected an unconditional truce proposed by Trump, the Republican leader has expressed increasing exasperation with the Russian leader, criticizing him for his unbudging stance on U.S.-led peace efforts and for prolonging the war. Until recently, Trump repeatedly said Russia seemed more willing than Ukraine to get a deal done. Trump appears to have softened toward Zelenskyy after a February confrontation in the Oval Office. And, in a reversal, he promised at some point to provide Ukraine with badly needed Patriot air defense missiles under a deal that would see NATO allies in Europe deliver them from their stock, to be replaced by future U.S. supplies. Russia's bigger army is pressing on parts of the 620-mile (1,000-kilometer) front line, where thousands of soldiers on both sides have died since the Kremlin ordered the full-scale invasion in February 2022. June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties in the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded in Ukraine, the U.N. human rights mission in Ukraine said Thursday. A look at what Trump has said so far during his second term: Jan. 31 'We want to end that war. That war would have not started if I was president.' Trump says his new administration has already had 'very serious' discussions with Russia and that he and Putin could soon take 'significant' action toward ending the conflict. Feb. 19 'A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.' Trump's harsh words for Zelenskyy on his Truth Social platform drew criticism from Democrats and even some Republicans in the United States, where defending Ukraine from Russian aggression has traditionally had bipartisan support. Zelenskyy said Trump was falling into a Russian disinformation trap — and he was quickly admonished by Vice President JD Vance about the perils of publicly criticizing the president. Feb. 28 'You're gambling with World War III. And what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that's backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.' Trump and Vance berated Zelenskyy, accusing him of not showing gratitude after he challenged Vance on the question of diplomacy with Putin. The Oval Office argument, broadcast globally, led to the rest of Zelenskyy's White House visit being canceled and called into question U.S. support for Ukraine. A few days later, Trump temporarily paused military aid to Ukraine to pressure Zelenskyy to seek peace. March 30 'I don't think he's going to go back on his word. You're talking about Putin. I don't think he's going to go back on his word. I've known him for a long time. We've always gotten along well.' Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said he trusts Putin to hold up his end of a potential peace deal. The comments were among the last positive remarks he made about the Kremlin leader this year. April 24 'I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!' In a Truth Social post, Trump was reacting to Russia attacking Kyiv with a barrage of missiles and drones. It was the first of his rare criticisms of Putin amid increased Russian attacks on Ukraine. April 29 'A lot of his people are dying. They're being killed, and I feel very badly about it.' Trump addressed the toll on Ukrainians during an interview with ABC News after he met with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral. It was the first time the leaders had met since the Oval Office spat and signaled a shift in Trump's attitude toward the Ukrainian president. May 25 'I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!' Trump's Truth Social post made it clear he was losing patience with Putin as Moscow pounded Kyiv and other cities with drones and missiles in stepped-up aerial attacks. June 25 'He was very nice actually. We had a little rough times, sometimes. He was … Couldn't have been nicer. I think he'd like to see an end to this, I do.' Trump had a closed-door meeting with Zelenskyy during a NATO summit in The Hague. Trump's comments to reporters later also opened the possibility of sending Patriot air-defense missiles to Ukraine. July 8 'We get a lot of bull—— thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.' Trump also said he's 'not happy' with Putin and that Moscow's war in Ukraine is 'killing a lot of people' on both sides. Trump's comments during a Cabinet meeting came a day after he said the U.S. would send more weapons to Ukraine. It was a dramatic reversal after earlier announcing a pause in delivering previously approved firepower to Kyiv, a decision made amid concerns that U.S. military stockpiles had declined too much. July 13 'I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said. He'll talk so beautifully and then he'll bomb people at night. We don't like that.' Trump's remarks to reporters came as Russia intensified aerial attacks on Ukraine. July 14 'I don't want to say he's an assassin, but he's a tough guy. It's been proven over the years. He's fooled a lot of people before.' Trump pushed harder against Putin during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. He said if there was no deal to end the war within 50 days, the U.S. would impose 'secondary tariffs,' targeting Russia's trading partners to try to isolate Moscow. Trump and Rutte also discussed a rejuvenated pipeline for U.S. weapons. European allies plan to buy military equipment for transfer to Ukraine. Aug. 11 'I get along with Zelenskyy, but, you know, I disagree with what he's done, very, very severely, disagree. This is a war that should have never happened.' Trump dismissed the idea of Zelenskyy joining the summit with Putin, declaring the Ukrainian president had been to 'a lot of meetings' without managing to halt a war that Russia started. He also lashed out at Zelenskyy for saying Ukraine's constitution bans giving up any land. 'I was a little bothered by the fact that Zelenskyy was saying, 'Well, I have to get constitutional approval.' I mean, he's got approval to go into war and kill everybody, but he needs approval to do a land swap? Because there'll be some land swapping going on.' Trump also noted that 'I thought it was very respectful that the president of Russia is coming to our country as opposed to us going to his country or even a third party place.'
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Switzerland warns its companies that no, they can't dodge Trump's tariffs by routing goods through the tiny neighboring country of Liechtenstein
Switzerland and Liechtenstein have long shared an economic market, but President Donald Trump has imposed a steep tariff on Swiss goods compared to its Liechtensteiner neighbors. The Swiss government has clarified that Swiss businesses will be unable to reroute their products through the neighboring principality. The Trump administration recently implemented a 40% tariff on transshipments, or the movement of goods to an intermediate destination ostensibly with lower levies, to disincentivize this behavior. The Swiss government is telling its domestic companies that they have not, in fact, found a clever way to skirt President Donald Trump's tariffs by routing goods through the tiny neighborhood country of Liechtenstein. Switzerland and Liechtenstein share a 102-year-old customs treaty allowing the 25km-long principality to share the Swiss economic area. But that agreement, which makes it nearly impossible to measure trade between the two closely linked countries, does not mean they are tariffed similarly. While U.S. tariffs on Swiss exports swelled to 39% in Trump's latest round of tariffs, levies on goods from Liechtenstein are only 15%. The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has said Swiss firms cannot pass off goods as Liechtensteiner by routing them through the principality because they would still be recognized as Swiss in origin. 'Such circumvention via Liechtenstein is fundamentally impossible. The United States applies its non-preferential rules of origin when levying additional tariffs,' a SECO spokesperson told Fortune in a translated email statement. 'For a product to be considered 'Liechtenstein origin,' it must either be entirely manufactured in Liechtenstein or [have] undergone sufficient processing.' Liechtenstein head of government Brigitte Haas said last week there's concern, though improbable, of Swiss companies looking to Liechtenstein for ways to dodge import taxes, but the risks are high. 'There's a fear that there might be some circumvention, but those are subject to a 40% tariff,' Haas said in an interview with Swiss outlet SRF. 'I hardly think anyone would want to go through that.' Trump's transshipment crackdown Last month, the White House imposed a 40% penalty tax on 'transshipments,' or the movement of goods to an intermediate destination, meant to disincentivize this particular behavior. The Trump administration is aware that countries with lower reciprocal tariff rates than its neighbors are incentivized to reroute their products, according to Robert Lawrence, Albert L. Williams Professor of International Trade and Investment at the Harvard Kennedy School. For years, China has used Mexico and Vietnam, among other countries, as transshipment bases prior to exporting goods to the U.S., according to a Brookings Institute report from June. These transshipments are having meaningful impacts: As China's trade surplus with the U.S. decreases, it has been completely offset by the increase in its trade surplus with other trading partners, the report found. While the transshipment penalty was meant to address China, Lawrence told Fortune, it would apply to any country engaging in the behavior—despite some experts arguing the order lacks key details that would help enforce it. 'It was really important with the response to China,' Lawrence said. 'But there's always this incentive to arbitrage between countries who are close to one another but have differentiated tariff treatment.' High stakes in Switzerland With Switzerland and the U.S. failing to come to a trade agreement before the Aug. 1 deadline, Swiss companies now fear Trump's steep tariffs could roil domestic businesses, particularly in the industrial machinery, cheese, and chocolate industries. While Switzerland may rely on the U.S. as a key importer, the U.S. may be able to find suitable alternatives elsewhere, Lawrence said, putting the onus on Swiss companies to absorb the cost of tariffs in order to keep prices competitive in the U.S. market. Liechtenstein could likewise suffer, according to head of government Haas, who said last week that although the principality has stopped trade negotiations with the U.S. and accepted the 15%, Switzerland's economic health could waver and impact Liechtenstein, which counts Switzerland as its domestic market. Haas also said many Liechtensteiner products don't list Liechtenstein as their certified place of origin, leaving uncertainty about how explicit the U.S. was in outlining the reciprocal tariffs for the principality. U.S. consumers could meanwhile begin to feel the impacts of these steep reciprocal tariffs, responding differently to the alternatives available from other countries, should Swiss imports no longer be as readily available or affordable. For example, according to Lawrence, U.S. consumers may now buy more Cadbury chocolate from the UK—where tariffs sit at 10%—despite not finding the product as appealing as Swiss chocolates, but because it's theoretically cheaper and more abundant. But these ramifications are about more than just chocolate. 'There's going to be a lot of inefficiency,' Lawrence said. 'Americans are going to buy inferior products.' This story was originally featured on Effettua l'accesso per consultare il tuo portafoglio
