UN's highest court will decide on the climate obligations of countries

The UN’s highest court is handing down a historic opinion on climate change Wednesday, a decision that could set a legal benchmark for action around the globe to the climate crisis.

- By MOLLY QUELL

After years of lobbying by vulnerable island nations who fear they could disappear under rising sea waters, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice in 2023 for an advisory opinion, a nonbinding but important basis for international obligations.

A panel of 15 judges was tasked with answering two questions. First, what are countries obliged to do under international law to protect the climate and environment from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions? Second, what are the legal consequences for governments when their acts, or lack of action, have significantly harmed the climate and environment?

In the decade up to 2023, sea levels have risen by a global average of around 1.7 inches, with parts of the Pacific rising higher still. The world has also warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius since preindustrial times because of the burning of fossil fuels.