Court hearings represent a “new era” in tackling climate change
By: Communications
Hearings taking place at the United Nations’ top court represent a “new era” in efforts to tackle climate change, according to an academic at the University of East Anglia.
The outcome of the hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, could help define countries' obligations to prevent climate change and the legal consequences if they fail to do so and cause significant harm to others.
The public sessions, which started on Monday, run until December 13. Twelve international organisations and 98 countries are due to give oral statements, including the UK, US, India and China, together with many small island states particularly at risk from the adverse effects of climate change.
The landmark case seeks a non-binding advisory opinion on the obligations of States to prevent and address climate change.
The UN General Assembly sent the case to the ICJ last year, following a request from the Republic of Vanuatu, an island country in the South Pacific Ocean. This is the first time that the UN has adopted such a request by consensus, and the first time that the ICJ will take position on climate change.
Corinne Le Quéré, Royal Society Research Professor of Climate Change Science at UEA, has produced an independent expert report for Vanuatu.
“We have enough information based on countries’ historical emissions of different greenhouse gases to make a sound estimation of their contribution to climate change, so lack of data should not be a hindering factor in decisions around legal obligations,” said Prof Le Quéré.
“It’s a big step for the UN to ask for this advice. This is a new era in tackling climate change, the question of responsibility of the different countries when they know emissions are causing climate change. Pollution has a cost and if you pollute you can be held responsible and asked to clean up.”
Prof Le Quéré added: “Current legal requirements to tackle emissions are not strong enough in most countries. There are no obstacles to implementing measures if the court decides climate change becomes an issue under international law.
“Actions to tackle climate change can be effective, but so far, they have not been deep or widespread enough to reverse global GHG emissions. There is progress, but it’s not fast enough.
“Strong directives from the ICJ would provide additional incentives for countries to accelerate their responses to climate change. At a time when climate change is intensifying weather extremes such as floods and wildfires, the damages to other countries and to people today and tomorrow are quickly ramping up.”
Prof Le Quéré and colleagues at the Tyndall Centre at UEA have developed two data-sharing applications which show the contribution of each country to climate change. The applications enable users to explore the contributions to climate change by States, by greenhouse gas, for fossil fuels and land use individually, and for different time periods.
The Court is expected to give its opinion in 2025.
Study Environmental Sciences at UEA
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