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ICJ Set to Issue Landmark Advisory on States’ Climate Responsibilities

Vulnerable island states say the advisory opinion is essential to secure legal clarity empowering courts to enforce sharper emissions cuts.

University students and professors perform the Istisqa prayer, a special prayer in Islam performed to ask Allah for rain during times of drought, at the Sanaa University, in Sanaa, Yemen July 16, 2025. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo
A view of Lake Qaraoun, Lebanon's largest reservoir, which is experiencing drought, according to the Litani River National Authority, near the village of Qaraoun, Lebanon, on July 9, 2025. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
A cow lies on dry grass in a field in Ligne, near Nantes, as the Loire-Atlantique department faces severe drought conditions, western France, July 17, 2025. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo
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Overview

  • The International Court of Justice will on July 23 issue a non-binding advisory opinion outlining nations’ duties to curb greenhouse gas emissions and legal repercussions for significant climate harm.
  • A 2023 UN General Assembly resolution co-sponsored by 132 countries referred two questions to the ICJ on emissions obligations and liability for environmental damage.
  • Representatives from Vanuatu, the Marshall Islands and Fiji warned that failure to act risks condemning their populations to ‘watery graves’ as sea levels rise.
  • During December hearings, major emitters such as the United States and India argued that existing UNFCCC and Paris frameworks suffice and resisted calls for new obligations.
  • Campaigners and legal experts predict the opinion will strengthen global climate litigation, inform national policies and harmonize fragmented international rules.