International Court of Justice renders historic advisory opinion on climate change
The International Court of Justice has delivered its historic advisory opinion on the obligations of States in respect of climate change.
In its opinion, the Court addressed States’ obligations in respect of the entire corpus of international law. The Court affirmed that climate change is an urgent and existential threat that is “unequivocally caused by human activities” and that all States have obligations under international law to protect the climate system.
The Court concluded that, in addition to obligations under the climate change treaty regime, States have separate and complementary obligations under customary international law and international human rights law and other relevant treaties to take appropriate measures to prevent significant harm to the climate system. The Court also found that the failure to take sufficient climate action engages State responsibility and opens up remedies including cessation, guarantees of non-repetition and reparations in the form of restitution or compensation to States suffering damage as a result of climate change. The Court specified that “[f]ailure of a State to take appropriate action to protect the climate system from GHG [Greenhouse Gas] emissions — including through fossil fuel production, fossil fuel consumption, the granting of fossil fuel exploration licences or the provision of fossil fuel subsidies may constitute an internationally wrongful act which is attributable to that State”, and engages the State’s responsibility.
The decision has been welcomed by the UN Secretary-General as “a victory for the planet, for climate justice and for the power of young people to change the world”.
The initiative to have the ICJ opine on States’ obligations in respect of climate change was led by the government of the Republic of Vanuatu. It was the first time in the history of the UN that the UN General Assembly referred a legal question to the ICJ by consensus, which reflected the global agreement on the need for clarity on States’ obligations in the face of the climate crisis.
Five members of Doughty Street International were involved in the proceedings: Jennifer Robinson acted for the Republic of Vanuatu and for the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the oral proceedings; Professor Nicolas Angelet acted for the Democratic Republic of Congo; Margherita Cornaglia acted for Albania and with Nicolas Angelet for the DRC; Harj Narulla acted for Solomon Islands; and Dr Tatyana Eatwell and Margherita Cornaglia acted for WWF in its submission of a written statement to the Court focusing on States’ obligations to protect biodiversity from the harmful consequences of GHGs.
A copy of the Advisory Opinion is available here.
A copy of the summary is available here.
Doughty Street International will be hosting a seminar ‘Rapid response webinar on historic ICJ advisory opinion on climate change’, where members will present their analysis of what the case means for the future of domestic, regional and international climate litigation. The seminar will take place on Monday, 28 July 2025 at 3pm. Register here.
