(23 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Hague, The Netherlands – 23 July 2025
++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
1. Wide shot of International Court of Justice
2. Group of climate activists gathered outside the ICJ hold a banner reading (English), "Courts have spoken – governments must act now", while chanting
3. Mid of climate activists holding placards with various slogans
4. Climate activists holding placard reading (English), "Climate Justice Yumi Go Go Go", pan to another group of activists holding placards with various slogans
5. Group of climate activists gathered outside the ICJ hold a banner reading (English), "Courts have spoken – governments must act now", while chanting
6. Man in traditional dress performs dance
7. Group of climate activists gathered outside the ICJ hold a banner reading (English), "Courts have spoken – governments must act now", while chanting
STORYLINE:
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. Outside the court, climate activists gathered. They held a banner that read: “Courts have spoken. The law is clear. States must ACT NOW.”
After years of lobbying by vulnerable island nations who fear they could disappear under rising sea waters, the U.N. General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice in 2023 for an advisory opinion, a non-binding 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 rose by a global average of around 4.3 centimeters (1.7 inches), with parts of the Pacific rising higher still. The world has also warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times because of the burning of fossil fuels.
Vanuatu is one of a group of small states pushing for international legal intervention in the climate crisis but it affects many more island nations in the South Pacific.
Any decision by The Hague-based court would be non-binding advice and unable to directly force wealthy nations into action to help struggling countries. Yet it would be more than just a powerful symbol, since it could serve as the basis for other legal actions, including domestic lawsuits.
The United States and Russia, both of whom are major petroleum-producing states, are staunchly opposed to the court mandating emissions reductions.
Simply having the court issue an opinion is the latest in a series of legal victories for the small island nations. Earlier this month, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found that countries have a legal duty not only to avoid environmental harm but also to protect and restore ecosystems. Last year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that countries must better protect their people from the consequences of climate change.
In 2019, the Netherlands’ Supreme court handed down the first major legal win for climate activists when judges ruled that protection from the potentially devastating effects of climate change was a human right and that the government has a duty to protect its citizens.
===========================================================
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/1dafb23161aa424ab9ed19dec04b65ef
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in July 28, 2025, 3:06 pm.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
