Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Sep 06, 2025

Pacific Islands students target U.N. court as key weapon to fight climate change

Pacific Islands students target U.N. court as key weapon to fight climate change

In the shadow of the United Nations' towering headquarters in New York City, law student Solomon Yeo from an island nation in the South Pacific is taking in what he describes as a “surreal moment.”

Less than three years ago, he was chatting with fellow law students at the University of the South Pacific in Vanuatu about how they might someday help transform how the world tackles climate change.

Now, as world leaders descend upon New York for the UN General Assembly, Yeo and his fellow Pacific Islands students stand at the brink of ensuring that the world's biggest and smallest countries know their obligation to deal with climate change. To do that, they are closing in on their goal of successfully petitioning the world's highest court - the UN's International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The idea emerged as a law school conversation - what if they could persuade the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion on climate change? Such a thing had been tried before, by Palau’s government in 2012. But Yeo, who comes from the Solomon Islands, and the other students decided that a second effort could succeed if supported by leaders across the climate-vulnerable South Pacific.

And so, the students wrote letters - to island nation officials, legal scholars and environmental advocates - asking for support for their campaign. Now in New York, with dozens of his student colleagues, Yeo is giddy with the possibility of success.

“We never thought that it will ever reach this stage of the campaign,” he told Reuters. “It is truly an amazement to be here.”

An advisory opinion from the ICJ would not be legally binding in any jurisdiction, but it could clarify the international law around what responsibilities governments have to their citizens and other countries in relation to climate change. It could even define climate change as a human rights issue, similar to religious freedom or the right of education.

On Saturday, amid the bustle of midtown Manhattan, young Pacific Islands climate activists will launch a week of publicity promoting their effort, starting with a flotilla of boats lining up along the East River carrying placard-holding climate justice activists up to the United Nations, organizers said.

The activities will end with the government of Vanuatu and allies asking for the issue be put to a vote at U.N. General Assembly.

A successful vote, Yeo said, could result in the assembly referring the request to the ICJ in The Hague as soon as December.

It will be up to Vanuatu and supporting countries to decide exactly how to phrase the request, and what legal question it will ask the court to advise on. But Vanuatu's ambassador to the U.N., Odo Tevi, told Reuters the island nation was likely to focus on states' obligations to climate-vulnerable countries and to future generations.

"In the last five years, we have had two Category 5 cyclones, which wiped out almost 60% of our economy. So we think we also have the moral force to take up this cause," Tevi said.

With climate change accelerating the rise of sea levels, many low-lying island states and coastal communities face increasing risk from storms and flooding in coming years.

Spokesperson Bianca Beddoe of the 39-member Alliance of Small Island States, of which Vanuatu is a member, said the campaign "is a bold, important proposition ... and it will be important for consideration by all countries and the General Assembly.”

LEGAL AND MORAL AUTHORITY


Despite having no binding force, the ICJ's advisory opinions can still carry legal weight and moral authority, experts say. They are used often in diplomacy and in clarifying the law on complex international matters.

Such an opinion is increasingly needed, said ClientEarth lawyer Sam Hunter-Jones, as climate-related litigation ramps up worldwide. As of May, there were more than 2,000 climate-related court cases in play globally - more than double the number filed in 2015, according to the London School of Economics.

An opinion from the court could also bolster a key demand by poor nations for a special U.N. "Loss and Damage" fund to compensate damages already being suffered in climate-related disasters, such as lands being lost to sea level rise or destruction caused by supercharged storms. Or it could “spur international litigation between states, or against states regarding compensation,” Hunter-Jones said.

The students hope their campaign can also inject new life into global climate negotiations that often feel intractable, with wealthy nations resisting ambitious emissions-cutting pledges while also failing to deliver financing to help developing countries through the energy transition, said Fijian law student Vishal Prasad.

They plan to keep up the pressure leading up to the next U.N. climate summit - COP27 - to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November.

“Pacific Islanders, young people and all climate-vulnerable countries have so much to lose because of climate change,” Prasad said. And the world is “not moving as fast as we need to be” to prevent the worst of it.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
×