“Duty to Repair”: Vanuatu Climate Minister on World Court Ruling Countries Must Address Climate

In a landmark decision, the International Court of Justice found that polluting countries are now legally obligated to address global warming. In a unanimous ruling by a panel of 15 judges, the court said high-emitting countries do have legal obligations under international law to address the “urgent and existential threat” of climate change. The case was brought forward by the island nation Vanuatu, which has faced the brunt of the climate crisis with extreme weather events and rising sea levels. “Countries in the Pacific, communities in the Pacific, are suffering from something which they did not cause,” says Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s minister for climate change. “It’s been caused by private actors that are being regulated by states in the West.” Sébastien Duyck, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, which supported Vanuatu in its case, agrees. He says, “What we really need is to end an era of impunity and just actually rely on existing legal principles to hold polluters accountable, whether they are corporate or governmental.”