'We were heard' The Pacific students who took their climate fight to the ICJ

I'm so nervous about today. It's going to be OK. Let's pray." Those were the quiet but powerful words of Cynthia Houniuhi on Wednesday morning, just before the international court of justice (ICJ) handed down its historic advisory opinion on climate change at the Peace Palace in The Hague.

- Sera Sefeti

In the packed courtroom, thousands of miles from home, tension hung in the air. For Houniuhi—one of the original 27 Pacific law students who sparked the global legal campaign that led to the ruling—the moment was overwhelming.

As the judges began to speak, she became teary. Years of hard work and late nights had come down to this. "I was literally hanging on to each and every word the judge was saying. I was anticipating, waiting for the things I hoped to hear. The more I listened, the more emotional I became," Houniuhi said.

"When the judges stated that states' obligations are not limited to the Paris agreement or the climate regime but also extend to environmental law, human rights law, and international customary law, I cried right there in the courtroom."

The ICJ's advisory opinion for the first time gives the Pacific and all vulnerable communities a legal mechanism to hold states accountable and to demand long-overdue climate action.