Vanuatu Leading the World on International Climate Change Responses
Last weekend in Suva a coalition of civil society organizations – including my own Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change – attached a floating banner to a traditional vaka spelling out in large red letters on the ocean surface: Endorse the AO! In Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and even the West Papuan community in the Netherlands, activists and their organizations showed solidarity by joining together, all making the same demand.
I am excited and humbled to learn today that our demand has not only been heard, but will now be acted on by Australian, New Zealand and Pacific leaders. The Communique of the 51st Pacific Island Leaders Meeting has now “endorsed the recommendation for PIF Leaders to call on the UN General Assembly for a resolution requesting the International Court of Justice to provide an advisory opinion on the obligations of states under international law to protect the rights of present and future generations against the adverse impacts of climate change”.
This article celebrates the civil society campaign that led to this momentous endorsement, explains the significance of the PIF statement, and congratulates the Government of Vanuatu for leading the world in responding to its most serious threat: climate change.
What is an advisory opinion of the ICJ and why does it matter?
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. The ICJ deals with both disputes between countries as well as issuing advisory opinions. ICJ advisory opinions are very influential in clarifying international law and setting out the obligations of states under it.
International climate law is primarily negotiated and coordinated under Paris Agreement processes. But the Paris Agreement has not led to commitments that will reduce emissions rapidly enough to avoid catastrophic climate change. Nor does the Paris Agreement provide mechanisms requiring states to consider all of their international legal obligations – for example, to protect basic human rights – when crafting their responses to climate change.
This is what an advisory opinion of the ICJ will do – it will provide an authoritative statement from the world’s highest court setting out in a coherent manner the international legal obligations of states to respond effectively to climate change. An ICJ advisory opinion on climate change will consider not only narrow requirements of treaties, but instead will integrate the full suite of customary international legal principles and human rights obligations.
There is no ‘silver bullet’ against climate change, but I cannot overestimate the significance of an ICJ advisory opinion. Cambridge University Law Professor Jorge Viñuales, for example, last month described an ICJ advisory opinion as “extremely supportive of climate negotiations. It would be ‘life support’ for the climate negotiations as they are unfolding right now.”
It all began here in Vanuatu
The Government of Vanuatu is championing the proposal for an ICJ advisory opinion on climate change. Vanuatu has a reputation for fully engaging with international legal processes, such as in advocating for nuclear disarmament, for the sovereign independence of the people of West Papua, or for the inclusion of ‘ecocide’ as an international crime. Vanuatu is accustomed to taking principled and courageous positions on international legal issues.
But campaigning for an ICJ advisory opinion on climate change – perhaps the most significant action ever taken by Vanuatu on the international stage — is not something that the Vanuatu Government decided to do without first being inspired and pressured to do so by civil society.
In fact, achieving this outcome was the reason that my organisation – Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change – was formed. We started in March 2019 when 27 law students noticed that even though Greta Thunberg had seemingly inspired the whole world to see climate change through the principled eyes of youth, that she wasn’t asking for anything in particular that leaders could deliver.
Learning this, the University of the South Pacific students who went on to form PISFCC asked themselves, “What could we demand of our Pacific Island leaders that would make a real difference on climate change?” After researching this they decided upon an ICJ advisory opinion, and the campaign was born.
Throughout the COVID pandemic PISFCC continued campaigning despite the many challenges. In person events instead were held virtually, hundreds of young people were engaged by our art and photo competitions. Very significantly we catalyzed the formation of a global network — World’s Youth for Climate Justice – who are now active in a dozen countries.
Vanuatu has since 2019 been willing to consider pursuing an ICJ advisory opinion on climate change, but PM Loughman’s official announcement in September 2021 that Vanuatu would put the issue to the next United Nations General Assembly was a truly significant moment. The next major highlight came in March this year when the leaders of the Caribbean endorsed it at their annual regional meeting.
PISFCC has not been campaigning alone. The Vanuatu Climate Action Network and the regional Pacific Climate Action Network have been strong allies since the beginning, and in May 2022 we formed an alliance of NGOs that now includes Oxfam, Greenpeace, 350.org and Amnesty International. With the Climate Action Network International also joining, our alliance includes more than 1500 organisations from every region of the world.
A truly proud moment
This is an important moment for us to celebrate with pride. It is important because it represents a very significant development in international climate change law that has great potential to accelerate ambitious action and ensure greater equity. It deserves to be warmly celebrated — especially by ni-Vanuatu — because it is a great example of us, and especially our younger generations, leading the world.
The next step in this process is achieving a majority vote for Vanuatu’s resolution at the UN General Assembly later this year. I assure everyone that I, and all of PISFCC’s campaigners, together with our partner organisations throughout the Pacific and the world, will be working hard to support the diplomatic efforts of the Government of Vanuatu in convincing all governments to vote “yes” for the ICJ advisory opinion on climate change.
Additional information in relation to the progress of the campaign can be sought from: https://www.vanuatuicj.com