A small island nation in the Pacific has won the gracious diplomatic victory that can elude the superpowers of the world.
On Wednesday, Vanuatu, With a population of 300,000, it brought together most of the countries to ask the world’s highest court to intervene on a high-stakes matter:
Can countries be sued under international law for failing to stop climate change?
The measure was approved unanimously, meaning that none of the 193 member states asked for a vote.
The General Assembly Hall burst into applause.
The fact that it was unanimously adopted reflects widespread frustration that emissions of greenhouse gases that warm the planet and wreak havoc in poorer nations are not being reduced fast enough.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, He said the move would “help the General Assembly, the United Nations and member states take the bolder and stronger climate action that our world desperately needs.”
In essence, with this resolution, the nations of the world are asking the International Court of Justice, based in The Hague, to issue an opinion on whether governments have “legal obligations” to protect people from climate risks and, more importantly important, if the breach of these obligations could lead to “legal consequences”.
The opinion of the international tribunal would not be binding.
But, depending on what it says, it could potentially transform the voluntary commitments made by each country under the Paris climate agreement into legal obligations under a variety of existing international statutes, such as those on the rights of the child or the Declaration universal human rights. rights.
Rights.
This could, in turn, lay the groundwork for new legal claims.
(Some domestic courts have already relied in part on international law to rule in favor of climate activists’ claims.)
The UN resolution is part of a series of legal and diplomatic hurdles aimed at major issuing nations.
It started when a group of law students from Pacific island nations proposed asking the International Court of Justice whether existing international law can be used to protect future generations.
Years ago, the Marshall Islands and Palau raised a similar idea.
But it got nowhere due to opposition from powerful countries. (The United States has authority over the defense of both.)
Vanuatu adopted the measure last year.
Other Pacific island nations joined, then several from Africa and Asia.
When the draft resolution was put to a vote in the General Assembly, 105 countries they had signed on as co-sponsors.
Vanuatu is also part of a group of vulnerable island nations pushing for a global fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty.
Like many other low-lying islands, it is at the forefront of climate hazards.
Six villages on four of its islands have been relocated as sea levels rise, a telltale sign of climate change, which has made water supplies so salty they’re undrinkable.
Cyclones and warmer ocean waters have destroyed coral reefs.
Its most valuable commodity is tuna, but the fish are drifting further and further away from Vanuatu’s territorial waters as the oceans warm.
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Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.