Some 1,500 advocacy groups from over 130 countries have formed a global alliance to support a Vanuatu government proposal seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on climate change. The government plans to put the proposal to the UN General Assembly for a vote later this year. Prime Minister Bob Loughman said the Pacific Island nations can’t survive if rich corporations and governments continue to put profits ahead of people and the planet. Addressing members of the new International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion (ICJAO) coalition, including the Climate Action Network, Greenpeace Australia Pacific and 350 Pacific, he said: “The climate crisis is a human rights crisis. Civil society and friends, this is not a crisis that I or my people will continue to accept; not before we have done everything within our powers to stop it. We, the smallest nations of the world do have power.” (Climate Action Network International, Radio New Zealand)
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Vanuatu scores climate justice victory at UN
Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu on March 29 won an historic vote at the UN General Assembly, calling on the International Court of Justice to establish for the first time the “legal obligations” countries have to address the climate crisis—and the “legal consequences” if they fail to. (CNN, NYT)