Neglected Climate Impacts of Armed Conflict addressed by US Judge Cleveland

The landmark opinion handed down by the world’s highest court on Wednesday sets a new framework for legal efforts to address the climate emergency.

We were delighted to see the neglected climate impacts of armed conflict addressed by US Judge Cleveland in her Declaration. Responding to arguments presented by the legal team for the State of Palestine, including our ED Kate Mackintosh, the Judge declared:

“𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘏𝘎 𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.”

We will continue to press for this issue to be taken seriously as a matter of international law.

With thanks and respect to the researchers breaking ground on quantifying conflict emissions: Lennard de Klerk, Benjamin Neimark, Doug Weir, Frederick Otu-Larbi, The Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS)