PRAVNI ZAPISI • Year XVI • no. 2 • pp. 499–521

THE ICJ’S ADVISORY OPINION ON CLIMATE CHANGE: A POSITIVE, YET SMALL, STEP FORWARD

Language: English

Melanie Maurer

Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer, University of Vienna, Austria
e-mail: melanie.maurer@univie.ac.at
ORCID ID: 0009-0003-8901-5849

Pravni zapisi, No. 2/2025, pp. 499-521
Case Note
DOI: 10.5937/pravzap16-62288

KEY WORDS

Climate Change, ICJ, Advisory Opinion, State Obligations, State Responsibility, Climate Change Treaties, Statehood, Human Rights, International Environmental Law

ABSTRACT

The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on the obligations of States in respect of climate change represents a pivotal moment in international environmental law. Being one of three recent decisions on this matter, the Opinion fits neatly within a growing body of jurisprudence aimed at compelling States to fulfill their internationally owed duties. The Opinion clarifies that States have legal obligations from a panoply of legal instruments to mitigate, adapt and cooperate in regard to the adverse effects of climate change. A breach of these obligations constitutes an internationally wrongful act and triggers State responsibility. Additionally, the Court endorsed the 1.5°C temperature goal as a legally binding target. While the Opinion is laudable in many respects, others could have been improved. These include the reluctance of the Court to give a definite answer on the rights of future generations and the question of continued statehood due to the permanent loss of territory due rising sea levels.