A landmark climate change case will open at the top UN court as island nations fear rising seas

THE HAGUE — The United Nations Supreme Court will hear the case biggest case in its history on Monday, when it opens two weeks of hearings on what countries around the world are legally obliged to do to combat climate change and help vulnerable countries combat its devastating impact.

After years of lobbying by island states who are afraid that they simply can disappear under the rising sea waterlast year, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice for advice on “the obligations of states with regard to climate change.”

“We want the court to confirm that the behavior that has devastated the climate is unlawful,” Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, who heads the legal team on the Pacific island of Vanuatu, told The Associated Press.

In the decade to 2023, global sea levels have risen by an average of about 4.3 centimeters (1.7 inches), with parts of the Pacific Ocean rising even higher. The world has also warmed by 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times due to the burning of fossil fuels.

Vanuatu is part of a group of small states pushing for international legal intervention in the climate crisis.

“We live on the front lines of the impacts of climate change. We are witnessing the destruction of our land, our livelihoods, our culture and our human rights,” Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s climate envoy, told reporters ahead of the hearing.

Any decision by the court would be a non-binding opinion and could not directly force rich countries to take action to help those in trouble. Yet it would be more than just a powerful symbol, as it could serve as the basis for other legal actions, including domestic lawsuits.

On Sunday, ahead of the hearing, advocacy groups will bring together environmental organizations from around the world. Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change – who first developed the idea to ask for advice – are planning an afternoon full of speeches, music and discussions together with World Youth for Climate Justice.

Starting Monday, the Hague court will hear from 99 countries and more than a dozen intergovernmental organizations for two weeks. It is the largest line-up in the almost 80-year history of the institute.

Last month at the annual United Nations climate meetingcountries have cobbled together an agreement on how rich countries can support poor countries in the face of climate disasters. Rich countries have agreed to raise at least $300 billion a year by 2035, but the total remains below the $1.3 trillion that experts and threatened countries say are needed.

“For our generation and for the Pacific Islands, the climate crisis is an existential threat. It is a matter of survival, and the world’s largest economies are not taking this crisis seriously. We need the ICJ to protect the rights of people on the front lines,” Vishal Prasad, of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, told reporters in a briefing.

Fifteen judges from around the world will try to answer two questions: What must countries do under international law to protect the climate and environment from man-made greenhouse gas emissions? And what are the legal consequences for governments where their actions, or inaction, have significantly damaged the climate and environment?

The second question specifically refers to “small island developing States” that are likely to be most affected by climate change and to “members of “the present and future generations who will be affected by the negative consequences of climate change.”

The judges were even briefed on the science behind rising global temperatures by the UN’s climate change body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, ahead of the hearings.

The case at the International Court of Justice follows a number of rulings around the world ordering governments to do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A UN was established in May maritime law tribunal said carbon emissions qualify as marine pollution and countries must take steps to adapt to and mitigate its adverse effects.

That ruling came a month after Europe’s highest human rights court said countries must better protect their people from the consequences of human rights violations consequences of climate changein a landmark judgment that could have consequences for the entire continent.

The ICJ’s host country, the Netherlands, made history when a court ruled in 2015 that protection against the potentially devastating effects of climate change is a human right and that the government has a duty to protect its citizens. The verdict was confirmed by the court in 2019 Dutch Supreme Court.