The small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu won a major victory to advance international climate law Wednesday after it persuaded the U.N. General Assembly to ask the world’s highest international court to rule on the obligations of countries to address climate change. Washington Post, March 29, 2023

For today

Vanuatu’s request for an advisory ruling from the International Court of Justice has been granted. This island archipelago of 300,000 has suffered sea-level rise, land loss, and multiple category 4 cyclones. The island nation has plans to address these challenges, but they are expensive to implement. The court’s agreement to advise on this case is significant, because it moves the discussions from venues like the Convention of Parties (COP), where lack of consensus can cloud the issues, to a potential consensus statement that might clarify the issue of responsibility.

Questions

We will prepare to debate the issues that confront the International Court. In preparation, think about several questions:

How did Vanuatu garner support from other nations for the request?
What are the obligations of nations that are not being met?
What makes this a human rights issue?
What is an advisory opinion from the International Court?
What impact could it have on global warming?
Could a legal decision have negative consequences? Or not?
Why might fossil-fuel emitting nations that have been weakly responsive to international pressure thus far abide by a decision by the court?

Before preparing your opening statements, provide short answers to the above questions and post to Sakai.

Then prepare opening questions and rebuttals for next time time.