GENEVA - The historic Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has unequivocally concluded that international human rights law is part of the stringent obligations of States to protect the climate system and the environment, and their violation entails State responsibility to provide reparations for harm, a group of independent human rights experts* said today.
"We applaud the Court and all those who contributed to this historic legal process recognising that climate change is an 'existential problem of planetary proportions that imperils all forms of life and the very health of our planet'," the experts said.
They hailed the Court's crystal-clear clarification that 1.5°C should be considered the consensus temperature limit for the international community to prevent catastrophic impacts, based on the best available science.
"The ICJ provided a powerful elucidation that in addition to international human rights law, States have multiple obligations under climate change treaties, environmental treaties including the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention against Desertification, the law of the sea, and customary international law," the experts said.
The Court warned that violating obligations to protect the climate system and the environment from greenhouse gas emissions are binding for all States and require effective regulation of private actors and meaningful international cooperation.
Welcoming the ICJ's extensive clarification that climate change affects human rights, such as life, health, adequate standard of living, protection from arbitrary displacement, and private life, and the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, experts emphasised the Court's corroboration of the disproportionate climate impacts on children, Indigenous Peoples, rural communities, women, migrants, persons with disabilities, and people in vulnerable situations, as extensively documented by the UN human rights system.
They highlighted the unprecedented recognition by the Court that the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a "precondition", "inherent," and "essential" for the enjoyment of all other human rights.
The ICJ also shone light on the legal consequences for States failing to prevent significant harm to the climate system, including revoking all administrative, legislative and other measures that constitute an internationally wrongful act, responding to loss and damage, restoring ecosystems and compensating for climate harm when restoration is not possible.
"We particularly applaud the Court for stating explicitly that fossil fuel production, consumption, exploration licences and subsidies may constitute an internationally wrongful act," they said.
The experts hailed the youth from the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change movement, who initiated this process with the support and leadership of Vanuatu and Pacific Island nations. The experts recalled that the UN General Assembly had requested this Advisory Opinion by consensus.
"Every State, particularly historically high-emitters and current high-emitters, should implement the advice of the ICJ as the basis upon which to course-correct domestic and international climate efforts, including at the upcoming UN plastic pollution negotiations and Climate COP30 in Brazil," they said.
