U.N. Court Says Nations Ignoring Climate Change Are Liable for Damages

by Lowell Cauffiel

The United Nations’ top court ruled Wednesday that countries harmed by the effects of “climate change” could be entitled to reparations from countries that fail to “take appropriate action to protect the climate system.”

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague also called a failure to take measures to protect the earth a potential violation of international law, according to reporting of the opinion by a variety of news outlets.

The legal consequences resulting from the commission of an internationally wrongful act may include … full reparations to injured states in the form of restitution, compensation and satisfaction,” the court said, according to extensive coverage by France24.

The ICJ added, that a “sufficient direct and certain causal nexus” had to be shown “between the wrongful act and the injury.”

“Failure of a state to take appropriate action to protect the climate system … may constitute an internationally wrongful act,” court president Yuji Iwasawa said during the hearing.

As France24 reported:

The International Court of Justice gave the remarks as an advisory opinion in a landmark case about nations’ obligations to tackle climate change and the consequences they may face if they don’t, calling it an “urgent and existential” threat to humanity.

The news outlet added that the opinion, which runs to over 500 pages, is seen as a potential turning point in international climate law.