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Climate change

ICJ's Advisory Opinion on Climate Change: Breaking Down Barriers to Climate Justice

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

The International Court of Justice's (ICJ) recent advisory opinion on climate change marked a pivotal moment in the evolution of international climate law, affirming that States can incur legal responsibility for failing to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This opinion brought long-standing principles of State responsibility into sharper focus within the climate context, with significant implications for climate justice. However, the ICJ's treatment of reparations and remedies remains underexplored, leaving several critical questions unanswered.

Key Takeaways:

  • The ICJ affirmed that States may bear international responsibility for failing to control and reduce GHG emissions, reflecting the positions advanced by several States, including Vanuatu, Colombia, Saint Lucia, and the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
  • The ICJ clarified the erga omnes character of specific obligations related to climate change, including duties to protect global commons, such as the climate system, and the duty to prevent significant transboundary harm.
  • The ICJ's framework of State responsibility is flexible, leaving room for creative adaptation of traditional principles to the distinctive realities of climate litigation.
  • The ICJ's confirmation that the "panoply" of consequences under State responsibility applies to climate breaches provides a doctrinally secure basis for ordering both forward-looking measures and backward-looking relief.
  • The ICJ's openness to equitable and aggregate approaches to reparations, such as restitution, compensation, and satisfaction, lowers the evidentiary bar that has often stalled climate claims.
  • The ICJ's advisory opinion is non-binding, but it provides a normative blueprint that litigants and policymakers could invoke to push courts and arbitral bodies toward more imaginative and victim-centred remedies.

Statistics:

  • The ICJ's opinion includes 437 paragraphs, affirming the responsibility of States for climate change.
  • The specific obligations related to climate change, such as the duty to protect global commons, are erga omnes, meaning they are owed to the international community as a whole.
  • The ICJ's framework of State responsibility includes cessation, guarantees of non-repetition, and continued performance of obligations.
  • The ICJ acknowledges that equitable considerations and aggregate estimates may be used to determine reparations in climate cases.
  • The ICJ's advisory opinion is a significant development in the evolution of international climate law, with critical implications for climate justice.

Sources:

  • ICJ, Advisory Opinion, ICJ Reports 2025.
  • Customary International Law Commission, Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (2001).
  • Vanuatu, Written Statement (para. 197).
  • Colombia, Written Statement (para. 3.10).
  • Saint Lucia, Written Statement (paras. 66-67).
  • Melanesian Spearhead Group, Written Statement (para. 298).
  • Australian Government, Written Statement (paras. 6.19-6.31).
  • China, Written Statement (para. 138).
  • Kuwait, Written Statement (paras. 108-124).
  • Russia, Written Statement (para. 16).
  • Saudi Arabia, Written Statement (para. 6.7).
  • United Kingdom, Written Statement (paras. 125-127).
  • United States, Written Statement (para. 5.10).
  • Written Comments, ICJ Reports 2025.

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