Historic Advisory Opinion on Climate Change

Our ED Kate Mackintosh was in the courtroom of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) yesterday to hear the delivery of the historic Advisory Opinion on Climate Change. Among other significant findings, the Court held that States are under a binding legal obligation to protect the climate system; that there is a right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment which is essential for the enjoyment of other human rights, and that the principle of non-refoulement applies to people who have been forced to leave their country due to climate change.

“𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦, 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵”, Kate said. “𝘞𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵.”

Here are some pictures of the judges entering the courtroom; Vanuatu Minister for Climate Change Ralph Regenvanu reflecting on the Opinion; Kate catching up with Ambassador Cheryl E. Bazard, Counsel for the Bahamas; World's Youth for Climate Justice (WYCJ) activists Nicole Ann Ponce and Samira Ben Ali. Kate Mackintosh was Counsel for Palestine.