On 13 December, the International Court of Justice concluded two weeks of oral hearings in advisory proceedings on the obligations of states in respect of climate change. Matrix members involved in the proceedings included: Toby Fisher acting for New Zealand; Kate Cook acting for a small island state; and Joanna Buckley who provided written submissions for WWF.
Through the proceedings, the Court is seeking to answer questions posed to it by the UN General Assembly on 29 March 2023, namely:
(a) What are the obligations of States under international law to ensure the protection of the climate system and other parts of the environment from anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases for States and for present and future generations;
(b) What are the legal consequences under these obligations for States where they, by their acts and omissions, have caused significant harm to the climate system and other parts of the environment, with respect to:
(i) States, including, in particular, small island developing States, which due to their geographical circumstances and level of development, are injured or specially affected by or are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change?
(ii) Peoples and individuals of the present and future generations affected by the adverse effects of climate change?”
There is an urgent and pressing need for clarity on the answers to these questions. It is well established that anthropogenic climate change poses a direct and immediate threat to global security and prosperity. The First Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement confirmed that States’ nationally determined contributions, if implemented in full, will only reduce anticipated global temperature increase from 4°C to between 2.1 and 2.8 °C, and there is a huge gap between the commitments made in States’ NDCs and the policies required to deliver them. On the current trajectory the global average temperature increase is set to significantly overshoot the Paris Agreement temperature goal and risk triggering tipping points with catastrophic consequences.
In March 2024, more than 90 States and international organisations filed written submissions to the Court on the questions posed. In August 2024, States and international organisation filed written comments responding to the submissions of others. Between 2 and 13 December, the Court heard oral submissions.
The Court is expected to provide its advisory opinion (which is non-binding but reflects an authoritative statement of international law) some time in the latter half of 2025.