Climate justice gets legal backbone as ICJ clarifies States’ duties on climate and human rights

Climate activists outside the Peace Palace during the oral hearings in December. Photo Credit - PISFCC

SUVA, 24 July 2025 – The International Court of Justice has confirmed what Pacific peoples have carried in story and struggle for generations. States and corporations have binding obligations to cut emissions, protect human rights guided by the principle of intergenerational equity, and repair the harm already done. This is not new law. It is legal clarity that matches the moral truth frontline communities have always voiced.

The opinion gives governments nowhere to hide. Voluntary pledges while expanding fossil fuels will not pass muster as the Court finds that Governments are required to protect people’s rights to life, a healthy environment, and self-determination - with the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment being a precondition to respect, protect and fulfill all other human rights. The ruling offers a compass for negotiations, courtrooms and parliaments. It strengthens efforts to secure public finance, phase out coal, oil and gas, and compel polluters to pay for loss and damage. The Court also makes clear that breaching these climate obligations constitutes an internationally wrongful act and carries legal consequences, including full reparations.

For Small Island Developing States this opinion is a powerful tool. It helps anchor 1.5c as a non-negotiable limit rooted in the best available science and now grounded in international law, backs the call to phase out fossil fuel production, expansion and export including looking across the full spectrum of GHGs, strengthens arguments for robust NDCs, clarifies that finance is a legal obligation under both the Paris Agreement and customary international law and not voluntary assistance. Finance must be adequate and accessible, and supports claims for loss and damage, debt relief and tax justice. It recognises that sea level rise does not erase statehood or maritime rights, and that human rights obligations cross borders. The task now is to move this opinion out of legal circles and into every space where decisions are made.

PICAN will work with Pacific governments, movements and allies to embed this opinion in the road to COP30 in Belém, in the new NDC cycle, in debt and tax justice debates and - with the help of partners and allies - in strategic litigation. The law has caught up with the science. Action must now catch up with both.

Reactions from Pacific Civil Society:

Rufino Varea, Director at the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN), says:

“The Court has handed us a legal backbone for climate justice. No more excuses. Those who fuel this crisis must stop the harm and help repair it. The law now reflects the justice our communities have always demanded and we will use this opinion everywhere we fight for our people”

Cynthia Houniuhi, President of the Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC), says:

“This is a victory forged by Pacific youth but owned by all. We pushed the world’s highest court to listen and it did. Now we move from legal words to living change. Young people will make sure this ruling cannot be shelved or spun.”

Dr Sindra Sharma, International Policy Lead at PICAN, says:

“This ruling is a guiding star for the level of climate ambition desperately needed within the UNFCCC and beyond. Science has long told us what is needed. Now the law does too. The multilateral process cannot continue drifting. Belém must deliver finance and a fossil fuel phase out that matches this legal reality.”

Fenton Lutunatabua, Deputy Head of Regions at 350.org, says:

“The realities of frontline communities have been presented to the world’s highest court and international law is on our side. What this means is that states’ climate obligations are not just in terms of emissions, but in terms of how the climate crisis has impacted our basic human rights and losses. 

This journey started in a classroom in Vanuatu and we commend the young Pacific Islanders that have carried the legacy of climate leadership from our islands. A line has been drawn, and high-emitting states now have the obligation to address their climate responsibilities head on.”

Richard Gokrun, Managing Director at Tuvalu Climate Action Network (TuCAN), says:

“For Tuvalu, this is a breath of legal oxygen. We’ve known that our survival has always been a question of justice, not a measure of charity extended to us by polluters. The Court has reminded the world of that truth. We will carry this clarity into every negotiation and courtroom until justice is delivered.”

Mario Liunamel, Coordinator of Vanuatu Climate Action Network (VCAN), says:

“Vanuatu helped spark this process because our people live the consequences every day. Today the Court has confirmed what we fought for in the UN General Assembly and in every hall since. Big emitters must cut fossil fuels, fund real solutions and repair the harm already done. Every cyclone that tears through our islands is financed by someone else’s emissions. This puts that truth in law and we will use it to push for an urgent end to new fossil fuel projects that keep rebuilding our losses faster than we can recover.”

Noelene Nabulivou, DIVA International Adviser, says:

“This Advisory Opinion confirms what Pacific feminists already know. There is a safe future possible for this planet, and we are creating it. Through bravery, strategy, and great commitment, Pacific young people led social movements, communities, development institutions, governments, and the International Court of Justice to this moment. Now we will all work together to ensure accountability and justice—this is a new day for climate justice.”

Eparama Qerewaqa, Executive Coordinator for the Alliance for Future Generations [Fiji], says:

"A valiant campaign that was led by Pacific youth who carried this fight with courage, conviction and the mana of the lands and oceans we are fighting to protect. Today’s outcome gives legal weight to our struggle and affirms that we matter! Our islands and Oceans deserve to be protected. This is just the start. The world has heard us, now those most responsible must act, and pay their dues."

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Note to Editors

• Full Advisory Opinion delivered by the International Court of Justice

• Press Release by the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change and the World's Youth for Climate Justice who led the CSO campaign for the ICJ Advisory Opinion

About PICAN

PICAN is a regional alliance of 190+ non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations, social movements and not-for-profit organisations from the Pacific Islands region working on various aspects of climate change, disaster risk and response and sustainable development.

Media Contact:

Dylan Kava, Strategic Engagement and Communications Lead, PICAN

dylan.kava@pican.org | +679 9061989 (Manila / GMT+8)

Dorka Bauer, Global Strategic Communications Council

dorka.bauer@gsccnetwork.org | +49 178 6815087 (WhatsApp)