Vanuatu wins landmark legal battle over climate change impact

One of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the fallout from climate change has just won a landmark legal battle.

The International Court of Justice has sided with the South Pacific island of Vanuatu in a case brought two years ago via the United Nations General Assembly. In its advisory opinion, delivered on Wednesday, the ICJ said countries have a responsibility to do what they can to limit global warming to the critical threshold of 1.5C, saying that failure to do so may violate international law.

ICJ said countries may face consequences if they don’t meet their obligations, including the cessation of actions - such as fossil fuel production - and possible reparations to those that have been impacted by climate change such as Vanuatu, so long as a causal link is proved.

“The questions posed by the General Assembly represent more than a legal problem,” said Iwasawa Yuji, the ICJ’s president, said during his presentation of the opinion. “They concern an existential problem of planetary proportions that imperils all forms of life and the very health of our planet.”

The opinion made over two hours in the Hague will be seen as a big win for climate activists who have increasingly sought legal avenues to put pressure on countries to halt activities that cause climate change as international negotiations fail to deliver results quick enough.

Fossil fuel producers and developed countries may be concerned that the decision will be used during arguments in various international courts to pressure them to do more to combat climate change and pay money to deal with the consequences, although whether they will change their behavior remains to be seen.

The ICJ doesn’t have the power to enforce its decision on its own, and the US is among countries that doesn’t automatically recognize its legal authority. But the case has the backing of the United Nations General Assembly, and in principle ratchets up pressure on UN member states to act in accordance with the court’s decision.

The advisory opinion is the court’s first on climate change and it won’t be followed by additional rulings.

The court said it viewed limiting global warming to 1.5C as the primary temperature goal of the Paris Agreement, and that countries had an obligation to ratchet up their national ambitions as part of the UN process. All nations are due to submit revised plans before the COP30 climate summit in Brazil.

International courts are increasingly taking a stand on climate. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea said in May 2024 that countries must protect the oceans from acidification. And earlier this month, in response to requests by Chile and Columbia, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights said a healthy climate is a human right.

While advisory only, such rulings have the potential to ripple through the legal system, raising litigation risks and increasing pressure on countries to require climate transition plans. Last year, at least 226 new climate cases were brought, raising the total number of live lawsuits to just under 3,000 across almost 60 countries, according to a June report from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate.

“This ruling is a powerful tool we can use to demand that those most responsible for this climate crisis be held accountable,” said Flora Vano, ActionAid’s Vanuatu country manager. “As the planet’s weather becomes more chaotic, this ruling paves the way for the protections and reparations we desperately need to rebuild our lives and secure a just future.”

The Vanuatu case traces its roots back to 2019, when 27 law students at the University of the South Pacific started campaigning for accountability. The UN has ranked Vanuatu as one of the world’s most at-risk countries for natural hazards, the bulk of which have been made worse by climate change.