UNGA is expected to adopt resolution to outline legal obligations related to climate change

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on March 29 is expected to adopt a resolution calling for a top court to outline legal obligations related to climate change, an “unprecedented challenge of civilisational proportions.” Pushed for years by Vanuatu and Pacific islander youth, the measure asks the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to lay out nations’ obligations for protecting Earth’s climate, and the legal consequences they face if they don’t.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on March 29 is expected to adopt a resolution calling for a top court to outline legal obligations related to climate change, an "unprecedented challenge of civilisational proportions."

Pushed for years by Vanuatu and Pacific islander youth, the measure asks the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to lay out nations' obligations for protecting Earth's climate, and the legal consequences they face if they don't.

If the resolution passes — as is widely expected since more than half of UN member states have co-sponsored it — Vanuatu's Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau told AFP he will be "elated."

"Global warming is en route to Armageddon," warned the leader, whose Pacific nation faces rising sea-levels and experienced back-to-back cyclones earlier this month. He added that leaders must "react very quickly, urgently" to address the climate crisis.

The government of Vanuatu started lobbying for the climate resolution in 2021, after a campaign initiated by a group of students from a university in Fiji in 2019. Co-sponsored by some 120 nations, the resolution asks the ICJ to clarify the "obligations of states under international law to ensure the protection of the climate system."

A week ago, the UN's panel of climate experts (IPCC) warned that global average temperatures could reach 1.5C above the pre-industrial era by as early as 2030-2035, underlining the need for drastic action this decade.

While nations have no legal obligation under the Paris Agreement to meet emission reduction targets, backers of the new climate resolution hope other instruments, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, could offer some pathways for enforcement.