The International Court of Justice’s recent advisory opinion provides a powerful new tool for Fiji and other Small Island Developing States in their fight against climate change.

The top UN court’s landmark decision allows countries to sue each other over climate change, including for historic emissions of planet-warming gases.

The Pacific Islands Climate Action Network states that this opinion firmly anchors the 1.5°C limit as a non-negotiable threshold, rooted in scientific consensus and now enshrined in international law.

PICAN members also emphasize that this ruling supports the call to phase out fossil fuel production, expansion, and export, and demands a comprehensive look at all greenhouse gases.

It strengthens arguments for robust Nationally Determined Contributions and clarifies that climate finance is a legal obligation under both the Paris Agreement and customary international law, not merely voluntary assistance.

According to PICAN, the ICJ’s opinion leaves governments with “nowhere to hide.”

Voluntary pledges that coincide with expanding fossil fuel operations will not suffice, as the Court affirmed that governments are required to protect people’s rights to life, a healthy environment, and self-determination.

Alliance for Future Generations Fiji Executive Coordinator, Eparama Qerewaqa says today’s outcome gives legal weight to the struggle of all vulnerable states and affirms that we matter.

Qerewaqa stressed that “our islands and oceans deserve to be protected,” and celebrated the success of a valiant campaign led by Pacific youth who “carried this fight with courage, conviction and the mana of the lands and oceans.”

He adds the world has heard us and now those most responsible must act, and pay their dues.

Fenton Lutunatabua, Deputy Head of Regions at 350.org, highlighted that “the realities of frontline communities have been presented to the world’s highest court and international law is on our side.”

Lutunatabuna stresses that this means states’ climate obligations extend beyond just emissions; they also encompass the impacts of the climate crisis on fundamental human rights and losses.

This unprecedented case at the ICJ was the brainchild of a group of young law students from low-lying Pacific islands, who conceived the idea in 2019 while on the frontlines of climate change.

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