Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Wednesday, Jun 07, 2023

United Nations adopts landmark resolution for global climate justice

United Nations adopts landmark resolution for global climate justice

Members of the United Nations General Assembly have adopted a historic resolution that advances the climate justice cause by calling for the UN’s top court to lay out states’ obligations to fight climate change and reduce global warming.

Vanuatu, a small archipelago whose future is threatened by rising sea levels, has been pushing for the resolution, which asks the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue an advisory opinion laying out countries’ obligations for protecting the climate, and the legal consequences they face if they fail to do so.

"Today we have witnessed a win for climate justice of epic proportions," said Vanuatu Prime Minister Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau after the vote.

Although no country objected to the resolution's consensus adoption, the United States and China, the world's two largest carbon emitters, were not among the 130 co-sponsors.

The resolution asks the ICJ to clarify "legal consequences" for states that "have caused significant harm to the climate system and other parts of the environment."

It specifically asks the court to weigh obligations to "small island developing states," which are "particularly vulnerable" to climate change, as well as obligations to future generations.



Impact of ICJ decisions


It could take the ICJ up to two years to issue an opinion. And while the court's opinions are not binding, they carry significant legal and moral weight, and are often taken into account by national courts.

An ICJ opinion "would assist the General Assembly, the UN and member states to take the bolder and stronger climate action that our world so desperately needs," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

During negotiations on the Paris Agreement, US diplomats secured the addition of language specifying that the text "does not involve or provide a basis for any liability or compensation."

But the backers of the new resolution backers hope other instruments, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, could offer pathways for enforcement.

US representative Nicholas Hill said of Wednesday’s resolution that it “could complicate our collective efforts and will not bring us closer to achieving these shared goals" of reducing emissions, adding that he prefers diplomacy to "a judicial process".


Climate in court


The ICJ’s advisory opinion could be a vital input to a growing number of climate-driven lawsuits around the world – some 2,000 cases are pending worldwide.

On Wednesday the European Court of Human Rights opened its first ever cases against governments for alleged climate inaction. France and Switzerland are accused of failing to protect the environment.

Last week the UN's IPCC panel of climate experts warned that global average temperatures could reach 1.5 degrees Celcius above pre-industrial levels by 2030-2035 unless emissions are halved by 2030, underlining the need for drastic action this decade.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
Close
0:00
0:00
US and European Intelligence Agencies Uncover Evidence of Ukrainian Role in Terror Attack on Nord Stream Pipeline
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
Drone Attack on Moscow's Wealthiest Neighborhoods Suspected to be Launched by Ukraine
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
Prominent Hacker Forum RaidForums Suffers Substantial Data Breach
Nvidia CEO Huang says firms, individuals without AI expertise will be left behind
WPP Revolutionizes Advertising with NVIDIA's AI Powerhouse
Olam Group Faces Setback in Saudi Arabia Agribusiness Unit Listing
Kuwait Open to Negotiating Visa Ban with Philippines
Goldman Sachs Cuts Israeli Shekel Forecasts on Politics, Intervention
Iran to Unveil New Hypersonic Missile
Two US Employees Fired For Chasing Robbers Out Of Store As They Broke ''Company Policy''
Pfizer, the EU, and disappearing ink - Smoke, Mirrors, and the Billion-Dose Pfizer Vaccine Deal: EU's 'Open Secret
The Sussexes' Royal Rebound: Could Harry and Meghan Markle Return to the UK?
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
France Arrests 10 on Suspicion of Failing to Respond in Time to Migrant Drowning
Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Study
Is Saudi Arabia the holiest place in the world? Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions from "The Mount Sinai Stand" Discovered in Saudi Arabia
Bernard Arnault Loses $11.2 Billion in One Day as Investors Fear Slowdown in US Growth Will Reduce Demand for Luxury Products
Russian’s Wagner Group leader: “I am not a chef, I am a butcher. Russia is in danger of a revolution like in 1917.”
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Ron DeSantis Jumps Into 2024 Presidential Race, Setting Up Showdown With Trump
Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan on the importance of economic integration among Arab nations
Talks between US House Republicans and President Biden's Democratic administration on raising the federal government's $31.4tn debt ceiling have paused
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad received a warm welcome at an Arab summit in Jeddah
Biden Administration Eyeing High-Profile Visits to China: The Biden Administration is heating things up by looking into setting up a series of top-level visits to Beijing by top officials in the coming months
New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified
Debt Ceiling Crises Have Unleashed Political Chaos
Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, was charged with stealing trade secrets related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Elon Musk compares George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain from the Marvel Comics series.
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
New Study Finds That Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia Is a Major Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients Who Require Ventilator Assistance
King Charles III being crowned.
'Godfather Of AI' Geoffrey Hinton Quits Google To Warn Of The Tech's Dangers
A Real woman
Vermont Man Charged with Stalking After Secretly Tracking Woman with Apple AirTag
Elon Musk Statements About Tesla Autopilot Could Be 'Deepfakes,' Lawyers Claim. Judge Evette Pennypacker Does Not Understand How Far and Advanced This Technology Became
Ukraine More Prepared for Counterattack as Reinforcements Arrive
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Discuss Migration, Defence, and Ukraine
China Unveils Construction Road Map for Lunar Research Station
AT&T's Successful Test of Satellite-Based Phone Call Raises Possibility of Widespread Coverage
CNN: "Joe Biden is asking for four more years — when 74% of Americans think the country is heading the wrong way“
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Cuts Short Live TV Interview Due to Health Issue
US Congresswoman threaten Twitter Files journalist with arrest
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh slams New York Times' pro-government stance and treatment of sources
Enough is enough: it's time to end the war in Ukraine. While Russia may be to blame for starting it, Russia is not the one refusing to stop it
Fox News Settles their case with Dominion Voting Systems for a staggering $787.5 MILLION
21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira has been arrested for leaking classified Pentagon Documents
Bank of America cuts short conference after outrage at Ukraine comments
×