Latest news with #legalobligations
News.com.au
a day ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
ICJ begins handing down watershed climate opinion
The world's top court on Wednesday began delivering a landmark ruling laying out what legal obligations countries have to prevent climate change and whether polluters should pay up for the consequences. It is the biggest case ever heard at the International Court of Justice and experts say the judges' opinion could reshape climate justice, with major impacts on laws around the world. "I think it will be a game-changer for the whole climate discourse we're going through," said Ralph Regenvanu, climate change minister of Vanuatu. The Pacific island nation spearheaded the push for a court opinion amid growing frustration at sluggish progress in UN climate negotiations. "We've been going through this for 30 years... It'll shift the narrative, which is what we need to have," Regenvanu told AFP. The United Nations has tasked the 15 judges at the ICJ, a UN court that adjudicates disputes between nations, to answer two fundamental questions. First: what must states do under international law to protect the environment from greenhouse gas emissions "for present and future generations"? Second: what are the consequences for states whose emissions have caused environmental harm, especially to vulnerable low-lying island states? ICJ advisory opinions are not binding upon states and critics say that top polluters will simply ignore what comes out of the court. But others note the moral and legal clout enjoyed by the world's highest court and hope the opinion will make a tangible difference to national climate change policies and ongoing legal battles. Andrew Raine, deputy director of the UN Environment Programme's law division, said the ICJ should "clarify how international law applies to the climate crisis." "And that has ripple effects across national courts, legislative processes, and public debates," he told AFP. To help answer the two questions, ICJ judges have pored over tens of thousands of pages of submissions from countries and organisations around the world. Analysts say Wednesday's ruling is the most consequential of a string of recent rulings on climate change in international law as courts become a battleground for climate action. Outside the court in the Hague, about a hundred demonstrators waved flags and posters bearing slogans like "No more delay, climate justice today". Those bringing the cases are often from climate-vulnerable communities and countries, alarmed by the pace of progress toward curbing planet-warming pollution from fossil fuels. The Paris Agreement struck through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has rallied a global response to the crisis, but not at the speed necessary to protect the world from dangerous overheating. - 'Disappear beneath the waves' - In December, the iconic Peace Palace in the Hague hosted the court's biggest-ever hearings, with more than 100 nations and groups giving oral statements. In what was billed a "David Vs Goliath" battle, the debate pitted major wealthy economies against the smaller, less developed states most at the mercy of a warming planet. Major polluters, including the US and India, warned the ICJ not to deliver a fresh legal blueprint for climate change, arguing the existing UNFCCC sufficed. The US, which has since withdrawn from the Paris accord, said the UNFCCC contained legal provisions on climate change and urged the court to uphold this regime. But smaller states said this framework was inadequate to mitigate climate change's devastating effects and that the ICJ's opinion should be broader. These states also urged the ICJ to impose reparations on historic polluters. "The cardinal principle is crystal clear. Responsible states are required to make full reparation for the injury they have caused," said Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh representing Vanuatu. These states demanded a commitment and timeline to phasing out fossil fuels, monetary compensation when appropriate, and an acknowledgement of past wrongs. Representatives from island states, many wearing traditional dress as they addressed the court for the first time in their country's history, made passionate pleas to the robed judges. "Despite producing less than 0.01 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, on the current trajectory of GHG emissions, Tuvalu will disappear completely beneath the waves that have been lapping our shores for millennia," said Eselealofa Apinelu from Tuvalu. Vishal Prasad, director of a campaign by Pacific Island students that pushed the issue before the court, said climate change will become "catastrophic as the years go by, if we do not course-correct." "That's why we're looking to the ICJ."
RNZ News
13-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Pacific news in brief for 14 July
The International Court of Justice hearings which began earlier this month. Photo: Screengrab / UN Web TV A long-anticipated decision from the International Court of Justice on countries responsibilities for climate change is due next week. Vanuatu and Pacific climate advocates brought the case to the UN in 2023 seeking an opinion from the world court on the legal obligations of states in relation to climate change. Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat said that a favourable opinion could provide powerful legal tools to support vulnerable nations in need of funding and technology. The decision is expected to be read out at the Hague on 23 July. Australia's Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen says it is "way beyond time" the United Nations climate meeting (COP) comes to the Southern Hemisphere. Australia and Turkey are bidding to host COP31 next year. Bowen told the ABC that Australia as COP president would ensure that the Pacific's issues are front and centre of the agenda. Concern has been raised about Australia's fossil fuels record in connection to any position as COP host. The presidents of Palau and Fiji have both voiced their support of Australia hosting. Tuvalu has called out China for announcing a flight route that will bring Chinese flights closer to Taiwan. In a statement, the Tuvalu government said that the newly announced W121 air route will connect the Zhejiang Province to the controversial M503 route along the Taiwanese strait. M503 is seen widely as an esculation of tensions between the two nations. Tuvalu government said it stood "firm behind Taiwan" against China, and calling for a peaceful dialogue. The humanitarian organisation Doctors without Borders (MSF) is working to help Kiribati with its water problems. Recents tests on more than 300 wells on the outer island of Abaiang showed most of the water was unfit to drink. MSF's Eliza Chang told the ABC they found the bacteria group containing in more than 9 out of 10 of the tested wells. Salinity levels in the water are also high. The Chinese embassy in Kiribati says the China-aid seawater de-salination project is currently installing equipment, and debugging on the main island of Tarawa. Tokelau's second General Fono (parliamentary session) of the year kicks off Monday. It is being held on the Ulu-o-Tokelau or titular head of government, Esera Fofō Tuisano's atoll, Fakaofo . The role rotates annually between the Faipule of Tokelau's three main atolls. Tokelau has a busy next few months ahead with community consultations on self-determination underway. Tokelau is a non-self-governing territory of New Zealand. It will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its relationship with Aotearoa next year. Plans are in the works to turn an illegal dumpsite on Tinian into a landfill. Tinian, south of the big island Saipan, does not have a landfill. Tinian's mayor Edwin Aldan said the Puntan Diablo dumpsite has been part of discussions with the government and the US Department of Defence. Our CNMI correspondent Mark Rabago said the dumpsite is the only area locals can dispose their rubbish He said that as the US military build-up on Tinian ramps up, rubbish is now piling up. Environmental assessments and surveys of the project site are ongoing. Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu have submitted three extended continental shelf claims to the United Nations, securing 453,400 square kilometres of shared ocean heritage. The submissions have been presented by representatives of the three nations and mark a significant step toward strengthening Pacific sovereignty and sustainable resource management. Fiji's Foreign Affairs secretary Dr Raijeli Taga said that this achievement was about safeguarding the future. She said that by implementing rights, the wealth beneath the ocean, which contributes to national development will be secured - all while protecting the marine environment. The Fiji Times reports that it took 15 years for the submissions to reach this stage.
Reuters
03-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
France fines Shein 40 million euros for deceptive business practices
PARIS, July 3 (Reuters) - France's antitrust agency said on Thursday it had fined fast-fashion retailer Shein 40 million euros ($47.17 million) for alleged deceptive business practices including misleading discounts and vague claims about environmental impact, following a nearly year-long probe. The agency said Infinite Style E-Commerce Co Ltd, which handles sales for the Shein brand, had misled customers about discounts, and that the company had accepted the fine. In a statement, China-founded Shein said the antitrust agency had informed Infinite Style Ecommerce Co Ltd (ISEL) of issues related to discounts and environmental claims in March last year, and had taken corrective action within the following two months. "All of the points raised have therefore been resolved more than a year ago," Shein said in a statement. "ISEL takes very seriously its legal and regulatory obligations in France." ($1 = 0.8480 euros)
