Vanuatu has urged the top United Nations court to recognise the harm caused by climate change in its judgment on the legal obligation of countries to fight it and address the consequences of them contributing to global warming.
Vanuatu, one of the small island states that has spearheaded the effort to get the World Court to give a so-called advisory opinion, was the first of more than 100 states and international organisations to give its views during two weeks of proceedings.
"We find ourselves on the front lines of a crisis we did not create, a crisis that threatens our very existence," Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu's special envoy for climate change and the environment, told the court.
Regenvanu said there was an urgent need for a response to climate change that was rooted in international law rather than politics.
"We look to the court for recognition that the conduct which has already caused immense harm to my people and so many others is unlawful, that it must cease, and that its consequences must be repaired," Regenvanu said.
Australia was one of the countries that joined Vanuatu last year to petition for the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion, but Regenvanu said those signatures of support for a hearing should not be confused with support for their position.
"I wouldn't say they're behind us," he said.
"There'll be countries for and against ... states will be arguing for less responsibility, less obligations, less consequences, and there will be states pushing the other angle."
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The hearings began a week after developing nations , where richer countries agreed to provide $300 billion in annual climate finance by 2035 to help poorer nations cope with climate change.
While advisory opinions from the World Court are not binding, they are legally and politically significant. Experts say the court's eventual opinion on climate change will probably be cited in climate change-driven lawsuits in courts from Europe to Latin America and beyond.
Solomon Islands youth climate activist Cynthia Houniuhi told the judges the future for the young people in small island states was uncertain and determined by a handful of greenhouse gas-emitting countries that caused climate change.
"As judges of the World Court, you possess the power ... to help us course correct and renew hope in humanity's ability to address the greatest challenge of our time," Houniuhi said.
The hearings so far
On the first day of hearings, the court also heard from Saudi Arabia, which urged the court to be cautious in its legal opinion, arguing that UN treaties on climate change already provided a complete answer to what states must do.
Earlier on Monday, Germany also argued that the obligations of states in regard to climate change were established in the Paris climate agreement.
Aside from small island states and numerous Western and developing countries, the court will also hear from the world's top two emitters of greenhouse gases — China will speak on Tuesday, and the United States is slated to give its views on Wednesday.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will not address the court, according to a revised schedule the court issued late on Monday.
The hearings will continue until 13 December, and the court's opinion is expected to be delivered in 2025.
