THE HAGUE (dpa-AFX) – In a historic climate protection case before the International Court of Justice, small island states and developing countries have called on the International Court of Justice to enshrine climate protection as a legal obligation. For these states it is about survival, said the legal representatives of the Organization for African, Caribbean and Pacific States before the highest UN court in The Hague. After ten days, the hearings ended in the court’s most extensive proceedings to date.
This is intended to prepare a legal opinion on behalf of the UN General Assembly on the question of the extent to which states are legally obliged to protect the climate and the extent to which they can be held responsible for the damage they cause by emitting greenhouse gases. Although the legal opinion is not binding, it can have a decisive influence on climate processes worldwide. A decision is expected next year.
Large economic states: Paris Agreement is enough
98 states and 12 organizations presented their arguments to the 15 judges in the Peace Palace. Large economic states such as China and the USA, which are responsible for the majority of CO2 emissions, reject any further legal obligation to protect the climate. They refer to the existing UN climate protection conventions and the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015. Germany also stated that the obligations set out in the Paris Climate Agreement were sufficient.
question of justice
Legal representatives of developing countries, on the other hand, point out that states did not stick to their commitments and that climate summits such as the recent one in Baku were disappointing. They want those responsible for pollutant emissions to be legally obliged to reduce CO2 emissions and pay reparations.
The Vanuatu archipelago took the initiative in the historic case. The island nation in the South Pacific is at risk of sinking because sea levels are rising as a result of global warming.
WHO: It’s about the right to health
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that the right to health of millions of people is at risk. “The climate crisis is a health crisis,” he said./ab/DP/ngu