The World Court has ruled that countries must reduce fossil fuel emissions and protect their oceans as island nations fight for survival.
Nine small island states win historic climate change case at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), and all signatories to the UN Convention on Maritime Activities must do more to protect the world’s oceans from climate change. The court ruled that it should not.
The tribunal found that the responsibility of signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to prevent marine pollution extends to the emissions of greenhouse gases that alter the Earth’s atmosphere and harm the oceans (PDF).
Island states have asked the court to clarify what constitutes marine pollution under the Convention, in the face of rising sea levels, rising ocean temperatures, and ocean acidification from fossil fuel and other greenhouse gas emissions. I was looking for it.
Prime Minister Gaston Brown of Antigua and Barbuda, one of the countries that filed the lawsuit, said the small island nation was “fighting for survival” due to large-scale pollutant emissions.
“Some areas will become uninhabitable in the near future due to our failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” he said. “We call on major polluters to respect international law and stop catastrophic harm to us before it is too late.”
The 1994 treaty, signed by 169 countries, provides a legal basis for countries to protect the marine environment from pollutants such as oil from ships, but the court’s ruling says air emissions also harm the ocean. It is acknowledged that it is causing
The tribunal noted a “high risk of serious and irreversible harm to the marine environment” and ruled that states have an obligation to act.
The Commission on Small Island Climate and International Law (COSIS), which filed the lawsuit on behalf of nine countries, hailed the World Court’s advisory opinion as an “amazing legal victory.”
“[The court made] “We are contributing to history by publishing the first ever advisory opinion on climate change and oceans,” COSIS said.
Island nations have been fighting for more decisive action on climate change for decades and combating disinformation spread by fossil fuel companies.
The nine states involved in the COSIS lawsuit are Antigua and Barbuda, Niue, Palau, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, which experienced two Category 4 storms within 24 hours last year. .
In addition to stronger and more frequent storms, island nations are also facing gradual changes due to climate change, such as the loss of vegetable gardens as salty seawater mixes with groundwater.
Eselerofa Apinell, who represents the South Pacific island of Tuvalu, said Tuesday’s opinion made clear that all countries have a legal obligation to protect the marine environment and other nations from the existential threat of climate change.
She called this “an important first step in holding major polluters accountable.”
The ITLOS case is just one of several international efforts currently underway to address fossil fuels polluting our oceans.
International Maritime Organization (IMO) scrutiny of dirty bunker fuel used on cargo ships has been stepped up, while a planned global plastics treaty will tackle plastic and microplastic pollution.