UN Court: Settlements in climate protection contrary to international law

International law

UN Court: Settlements in climate protection contrary to international law

Can states be prosecuted for damage due to excessive emissions of greenhouse gases? The island states threatened by climate change see it this way – and receive support from UN judges.

If states violate climate protection obligations from international agreements, according to the highest UN court, they could be legally prosecuted under certain circumstances. Countries that take no or only inadequate measures to protect the planet against climate change violate international law, said the International Court of Justice (IGH) in the Hague.

“The failure of a state to take suitable measures to protect the climate system can be an action contrary to international law,” said court president Yuji Iwasawa when reading the expert opinion commissioned by the UN General Assembly in the Hague Friedenspalast.

The IGH’s statement is not legally binding, but according to international law experts, it can have an impact on climate processes worldwide. The report is considered historical.

In the procedure, small island states and developing countries had asked the highest UN court to fix climate protection as a duty to international law. For these states, it was about survival, representatives of the organization for African, Caribbean and Pacific states claimed in the most extensive procedure before the IGH.

The IGH said that this could only be decided on a concrete basis for demands for the recovery benefits of states that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases and do not do enough to combat climate change. Remey agents could be that the resulting damage to the infrastructure of a affected country is remedied if this is possible. However, the court also made it clear that corresponding procedures could be very complicated.