Over the next two weeks, around a hundred countries and organizations will be heard before the International Court of Justice. The latter will have to find a legal framework for the fight against climate change on a global scale.
A trial to fight against climate change on a global scale. The highest court of the UN, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), begins historic hearings this Monday, December 2, aimed at defining the legal obligations of several countries in the face of climate change. In The Hague (Netherlands), these hearings also aim to help the most vulnerable nations combat climate change and its consequences.
This morning, representatives of Vanuatu and other at-risk islands in the Pacific Ocean launched the debates in front of the court's panel of fifteen judges.
“The outcome of these proceedings will reverberate for several generations, determining the fate of nations like mine and the future of our planet,” declared Ralph Regenvanu, special envoy for climate change in Vanuatu, at the opening of the hearings. “This is perhaps the most important case in the history of humanity,” he added.
Over the next two weeks, more than 100 countries and organizations will submit observations on the subject, the highest number ever recorded before the Court.
activists shared
Groups of activists are currently demonstrating in front of the Peace Palace, where the Court sits, with banners reading: “The biggest problem before the highest court”, or even, “Finance our future, finance the climate now.
The latter hope that the opinion of the judges of the Court will have important legal consequences in the fight against climate change.
“I am hopeful that the judges will say something useful that can really break the deadlock around climate negotiations that we see happening every year at COP,” said Jule Schnakenberg, a member of the Youth world for climate justice.
Others fear that the request for a non-binding advisory opinion, supported by the UN, will have only a limited impact and that it will take months or even years for the highest court to deliver its opinion.
CO2 emissions on the rise
These historic hearings are taking place just days after the conclusion of a climate agreement, negotiated at the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan.
The latter stipulates in particular that developed countries must provide at least 300 billion dollars per year by 2035 to finance the fight against climate change, or a little more than 285 billion euros. This agreement did not mention the global commitment to abandon fossil fuels.
Yet preliminary research by scientists at the Global Carbon Project and published at COP29 found that CO2 emissions from fossil fuels continued to rise this year, reaching a new record. The three main emitters of greenhouse gases (China, United States, India) will also be among the countries which will have to present their observations to the ICJ.
According to Joie Chowdhury, a lawyer at the Center for International Environmental Law, the judges' opinion, which is expected to be issued sometime next year, “will shed light on climate-related disputes at the national and international levels.” .
