The “landmark resolution” resolution directs the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to produce an Advisory Opinion to determine countries’ legal climate obligations under international law.

The ICJ now has two years to produce a decision that, while non-binding, provides an opinion to be cited as an international standard in climate cases decided in courts worldwide. Culpability for wrecking the climate will no longer only be a question of morality, but now of international law.

For nations such as Vanuatu, the climate catastrophe is already a question of life or death. This resolution is a global step forward for all countries who bear the unequal burden of climate injustice.

Vanuatu PM Ishmael Kalsakau called the resolution “the beginning of a new era in multilateral climate co-operation, one that is more fully focused on upholding the rule of international law and an era that places human rights and intergenerational equity at the forefront of climate decision-making.”

PI Council member and human rights lawyer Julian Aguon, founder of Blue Ocean Law, helped lay the foundations as Vanuatu’s legal representation in this groundbreaking climate effort.

“Thanks to the determined efforts of Vanuatu, joined now by the rest of the world, the international community is one step closer to finally delivering on the promise of climate justice,” Aguon said. “Vanuatu may be small but it sits there in the Pacific sun and shines, like living proof that smallness is a state of mind.”

With this resolution, the UN General Assembly has affirmed that with violations of climate obligations come legal consequences. Now we must keep up international pressure — for Vanuatu and all those facing climate change head on.

Join Vanuatu and the UN General Assembly to demand justice for State crimes against the climate system — and reparations for their victims.