The Hague: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is poised to issue its first-ever advisory opinion on climate change; a decision widely anticipated as a milestone in international law.
The court’s ruling could reshape global climate accountability by defining the legal responsibilities of nations to combat climate change and addressing the consequences for major polluters.
The case, brought forward by the South Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu alongside other vulnerable countries, represents the ICJ’s largest ever, featuring tens of thousands of pages of written submissions and two intense weeks of oral hearings. The court’s 15 judges face the complex challenge of synthesizing various strands of environmental law into a unified international standard.
At the core of the case is a crucial question posed by the petitioners: What are the legal obligations of states in addressing climate change? While top fossil fuel emitters argue that existing frameworks such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement provide sufficient guidance, climate advocates urge the ICJ to adopt a broader approach. This includes integrating human rights law and maritime law to form a comprehensive legal framework.
Vanuatu’s legal team urged the court to consider “the entire corpus of international law,” emphasizing the ICJ’s unique authority to deliver binding guidance across multiple legal domains.
REMINDER: The #ICJ will deliver its Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change tomorrow, Wednesday 23 July 2025, at 3 p.m. (The Hague).
Follow live on @UNWebTV here: https://t.co/07pRHQdjH5
— CIJ_ICJ (@CIJ_ICJ) July 22, 2025
Beyond defining responsibilities, the court is expected to address whether countries that have historically contributed most to climate change should face legal consequences or reparations. The United States, as the world’s largest historical greenhouse gas emitter, along with other leading polluters, has pointed to the 2015 Paris Agreement, which stops short of imposing direct compensation obligations.
The issue of liability remains highly sensitive in international climate negotiations. However, at the 2022 United Nations climate talks, wealthy nations agreed to establish a fund to support vulnerable countries suffering from climate impacts linked to past emissions.
Vanuatu’s Minister for Climate Change, Ralph Regenvanu, expressed hope that the ICJ ruling will establish a clear legal obligation for states to act on climate change and respect the rights of other nations.
Vishal Prasad, director of Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change and a former law student who helped initiate the case, described the ruling as an “existential moment” for young people in island nations like Kiribati, Tuvalu, and the Marshall Islands, who face the dire effects of rising seas and frequent flooding.
