Pacific islands threatened by climate change are urging the International Court of Justice to put its weight behind climate change mitigation efforts, with the initiative winning support at a key regional summit in Fiji on Wednesday.
Pacific nation Vanuatu is leading a campaign to urge the Hague-based tribunal to “protect the rights of present and future generations from the effects of climate change.”
Vanuatu’s Foreign Minister Marc Ati told AFP on Wednesday he was confident that leaders from neighboring islands, including Australia and New Zealand, would back the push at this week’s Pacific Islands Forum in the Fijian capital Suva.
The plan will need the support of a majority of countries at the United Nations General Assembly in September to go before the world’s highest court.
Support from the countries gathering at this week’s Fiji summit could be crucial in getting the UN vote through.
Ati said he “met with all my colleagues, they confirmed their support”.
The initiative started in 2019 in a classroom at the University of the South Pacific.
Some 27 law students wrote to Pacific leaders, asking them to take up the campaign — and Vanuatu answered the call.
One of those involved was Vishal Prasad, a 26-year-old university student from Fiji.
He told AFP that even a non-binding “opinion” from the International Court of Justice would have “far-reaching implications”.
Prasad hopes the deliberative court would spur more ambitious action on climate change and make polluters aware that they will be held accountable.
For young people in the Pacific, “the existential threat, the reality” of climate change is “quite scary,” he said.
Rising sea levels and stronger storms are already causing serious problems across the Pacific, where many communities live just above sea level.
“We are already seeing effects on a daily basis. We are seeing the onset of hurricanes,” Prasad said. “We see communities being relocated.”
– skin in game –
Pacific leaders will discuss Vanuatu’s campaign during the summit’s closing meeting on Friday — among other key issues for the region, including climate and security.
The Pacific Summit is the first time leaders have been able to meet in person since the outbreak of Covid-19, forcing countries across the region to close their borders.
Tuvaluan Foreign Minister Simon Kofe told AFP he would like Vanuatu to support the campaign as it is “in line with our efforts to protect our people affected by climate change”.
“Tuvalu fully supports this initiative by Vanuatu,” he told AFP.
One country whose position will be closely watched this week is Australia, a major emitter in the region and one of the world’s largest fossil fuel exporters.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrived in Suva on Wednesday for his first visit to the Pacific as head of state, hoping to mend Australia’s fractured relationship with the Pacific after a nearly decade-long row over climate policy.
Albanese said he supports “the broad concept” of Vanuatu’s campaign but wants to see the details of the reference.
“It’s hard for any nation to unsubscribe unseen,” he said.
“But in terms of the general principle, we understand that it is a reasonable principle that is put forward.”
Pacific climate expert Wesley Morgan said there was still a “hard debate” about the exact question before the International Court of Justice.
He said Australia’s new government “must do whatever it takes to convince island nations that they are serious about tackling climate change.”
The question is “how much skin Australia is willing to lose,” he said.
At the end of the summit, “we will find out if Australia has tried to change the language of the issue they would rather take before the ICJ,” he added.
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