The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the top world court, has been issuing a historic advisory opinion on climate change which it has called an “urgent and existential threat”.

The ICJ in The Hague said on Wednesday that greenhouse gas emissions are unequivocally caused by “human activities” and have cross border effects.

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After years of lobbying by vulnerable island nations who fear they could disappear under rising sea waters, the United Nations General Assembly asked the ICJ in 2023 for an advisory opinion, a non-binding but important basis for international obligations.

Vanuatu is one of a group of small states that are pressing for international legal intervention in the climate crisis which affects many more island nations in the South Pacific.

More to come…