Latest news with #InternationalCourtOfJustice
New York Times
7 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Climate Science Is Now the Law
The science on climate change has long been settled. Now the law is, too. On Wednesday, the International Court of Justice, the judicial branch of the United Nations, recognized for the first time that there is no way to solve the climate crisis or atone for its devastating consequences without confronting its root cause: the burning of fossil fuels. Back in 2023, the South Pacific archipelago nation of Vanuatu and other climate-vulnerable countries, with the help of Pacific Island students, secured a United Nations resolution asking the International Court of Justice to clarify what existing international law requires governments to do about climate change and what legal consequences they face if their failure to uphold the law causes serious harm. The court's conclusion comes on the heels of two other international advisory opinions on climate change and a growing number of national judgments. Earlier this month, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights declared that the climate crisis is a human rights emergency, triggering human rights obligations for nations and businesses. Its sweeping opinion acknowledged the outsize role the oil and gas sector plays in generating planet-warming emissions, and emphasized the duty of governments to regulate and control these polluters. A 2024 climate opinion from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea likewise affirmed that greenhouse gas emissions pollute the marine environment and that countries have a duty to prevent environmental harm that affects other countries, whether it comes from public actors or private companies. The I.C.J.'s unanimous opinion reinforced these conclusions and broadened their reach, stating that countries must protect citizens from the 'urgent and existential threat' of climate change. When a country fails to curb greenhouse gas emissions — whether by producing or consuming fossil fuels, approving new exploration to find them or subsidizing the industry — it may be held liable for 'an internationally wrongful act,' the court's 15 judges said. This makes it much harder for any government or company to say that rules don't apply to them or they don't have to act. Read together, these three landmark legal rulings leave no doubt that continuing fossil fuel production and use, let alone expanding it, violates the law. It is a cease-and-desist notice to fossil fuel producers. Governments, industry and scientists have known for decades that fossil fuels are the principal cause of climate change. Oil, gas and coal account for nearly 90 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, and science shows that it is impossible to prevent a rise in global temperatures unless new fossil fuel projects are stopped and existing ones shut down. But fossil fuel companies have systematically delayed climate action, first by denying the science, then by derailing the most aggressive regulations and goals with intense lobbying. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
A Timeline of the Latest Conflict Between Cambodia and Thailand
Cambodian and Thai troops clashed on Thursday along their heavily patrolled and contested border, wounding several civilians and killing at least one, setting off the evacuation of residents in the area, and unraveling diplomatic relations between the nations. The two neighbors in Southeast Asia have had occasional military clashes and nationalist rivalries for hundreds of years. The border disputes can be traced back to a 1907 map created during French colonial rule in Cambodia. The map was the basis of Cambodia's claims to certain parts of the border, but its vagueness led to conflicting interpretations, and Thailand contested it. The countries tried to resolve the dispute diplomatically, but the issue was never settled completely, even after transnational bodies like the International Court of Justice intervened in 1962. At stake were areas like centuries-old historical temples. Military fighting has broken out intermittently since 2008. The last time tensions turned deadly was in 2011, when the fighting focused on a jungle border area including ancient temples to which both sides had laid claim. Each side blamed the other for starting and prolonging the fighting. The two nations declared a cease-fire after seven days of fighting killed at least 15 people and displaced tens of thousands of civilians. That same year, a United Nations court ordered the two nations to withdraw troops and establish a demilitarized zone, but the court left unresolved who would control a larger disputed territory, where troops kept clashing. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Japan Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Brazil prepares to join South Africa's Gaza genocide case against Israel at ICJ
Brazil is finalizing its submission to join South Africa's genocide case against Israel's actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice, the foreign ministry said in a statement Wednesday. South Africa filed the case in 2023 asking the ICJ to declare that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention. The case argues that in its war against Hamas militants Israel's military actions go beyond targeting Hamas alone by attacking civilians, with strikes on schools, hospitals, camps and shelters. Other countries — including Spain, Turkey and Colombia — have also sought to join the case against Israel. In its statement, the Brazilian government accused Israel of violations of international law "such as the annexation of territories by force" and expressed "deep indignation" at violence suffered by the civilian population. Israel denies deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians, saying its sole interest is to annihilate Hamas. Lawyers for Israel have dismissed South Africa's case as an abuse of the genocide convention. The Israeli embassy in Brasilia did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Brazil's National Israeli association CONIB said in a statement in response to Wednesday's decision that "the breaking of Brazil's long-standing friendship and partnership with Israel is a misguided move that proves the extremism of our foreign policy." Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has long been an outspoken critic of Israel's actions in Gaza, but Wednesday's decision carries added significance amid heightened tensions between Brazil and Israel's ally the United States. The Trump administration announced 50% tariffs on all Brazilian goods this month. A diplomat familiar with the thinking of the Lula administration said Brazil does not believe its decision to join South Africa's case will impact its relationship with Washington, however. The United States has opposed South Africa's genocide case under both former U.S. President Joe Biden and Trump. In February, Trump signed an executive order to cut U.S. financial assistance to South Africa, citing in part its ICJ case.
France 24
10 hours ago
- Politics
- France 24
Pacific climate pioneer still fears for island nation's future
Kiribati, a climate-threatened archipelago that is home to some 130,000 people, sits barely two metres (6.5 feet) above sea level, has little freshwater, no rivers and limited fertile land. The International Court of Justice in The Hague declared Wednesday that states are obliged under international law to tackle climate change. "There was a time when it really got me very depressed because of the realisation that there is not much that we can do about it," former Kiribati president Anote Tong, who led the remote nation for 12 years until 2016, told AFP. "I've heard people about talking about climate grief, and perhaps that is what climate grief is all about: realising that you have no future, and understanding that my grandchildren, I've got a lot of grandchildren, I don't know what is going to happen to them." "Previously, I spoke as a leader, now I speak as a grandfather on the climate issue." Tong welcomed the "wonderful achievement" of the international court decision but warned it risked overshadowing the voices of those at the forefront of climate change. "This is a human rights issue. It's not a legal issue," he said. "There is always a danger that we're not focusing on justice, but more on the legal aspects of the issue." 'How do we survive?' The UN's climate expert panel warned rising sea levels and coastal erosion could render some Pacific nations, including Kiribati, uninhabitable by 2060. Tong, 73, said that during his lifetime, extreme weather events had increasingly destroyed crops and fresh water sources. The climate leader said corals lie just off his property. "I used to play with my kids when the tide was at its highest. Now, you can never do that because the waves are too strong," he said. "That's definitely a change. The question is that, can our islands withstand the change?" Tong said he feared a window of opportunity has passed. He blamed the international community, including polluting countries and global bodies, which he said had "failed at every turn" to address climate change and ignored the plight of smaller island states. "Our future is not assured," he said. "I've all but given up, but I can never afford to give up."
RNZ News
11 hours ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
UN's top court finds countries can be liable for emissions
climate politics 34 minutes ago Vanuatu's Climate Change Minister has said the Pacific now has more leverage in climate negotiations after the UN's top court found that countries can be held legally responsible for their greenhouse gas emissions. The president of the International Court of Justice, Yuji Iwasawa, said climate change is an urgent and existential threat. From the Hague, Jamie Tahana reports.
