--- title: Dozens of Countries Back Vanuatu's Climate Justice Fight description: Pacific Island nations want an International Court of Justice opinion on the need to protect human rights as climate change worsens. canonical: https://time.com/6197027/pacific-island-nations-vanuatu-climate-change/ author: Amy Gunia article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-07-18T12:34:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:42:37.795Z article:section: Climate og:title: Pacific Island Nations Are Bringing Their Climate Justice Fight to the World's Highest Court og:description: They want the International Court of Justice to give its opinion on protecting human rights as climate change worsens og:url: https://time.com/6197027/pacific-island-nations-vanuatu-climate-change/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbab813b3ed571bf7/698a33b3b3fce3c58b0c9747/PIF-Floatilla.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: PIF-Floatilla og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pacific Island Nations Are Bringing Their Climate Justice Fight to the World's Highest Court twitter:description: They want the International Court of Justice to give its opinion on protecting human rights as climate change worsens twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbab813b3ed571bf7/698a33b3b3fce3c58b0c9747/PIF-Floatilla.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pacific Island Nations Are Bringing Their Climate Justice Fight to the World's Highest Court > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=7e3e9a95-9499-4dd8-bd84-2784de5483e4&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Miraculous Trees That Could Save Pakistan's Largest City from Climate Disaster [Watch (HLS stream): The Miraculous Trees That Could Save Pakistan's Largest City from Climate Disaster](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/baKBqhUV.m3u8) (6:17)  _Published 2022-06-23. Pakistan’s Indus River Delta is home to hundreds of thousands of acres of mangroves, and the country boasts one of the most successful mangrove reforestation projects in the world. But only a few remain in the economic capital of Karachi, where 16 million residents are corralled onto low-lying spits of land, many of which have been reclaimed from the sea._ by [Amy Gunia](https://time.com/author/amy-gunia/) ## Amy Gunia Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong. Jul 18, 2022 12:34 PM UTC  Climate activists call on Pacific Islands leaders to endorse Vanuatu's push for the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on climate change in Suva, Fiji on July 9, 2022. Climate activists call on Pacific Islands leaders to endorse Vanuatu's push for the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on climate change in Suva, Fiji on July 9, 2022. Courtesy of Greenpeace Australia Pacific by [Amy Gunia](https://time.com/author/amy-gunia/) ## Amy Gunia Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong. Jul 18, 2022 12:34 PM UTC [Pacific Island](https://time.com/6171610/palau-marine-protected-area-climate-justice/) leaders have tried almost everything—from giving speeches in knee-deep seawater, to shouting and [crying](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/tongas-prime-minister-reduced-to-tears-over-climate-change-inaction/fe7h4qtb7)—to draw attention to the impacts of climate change on their nations. But as their attempts to spark drastic action have been met by [slow-moving international climate negotiations](https://time.com/6120266/cop26-takeaways/) and the continued use of fossil fuels, interest in using legal levers to force large polluters to take action—or pay up—has grown. For nearly a year now, Vanuatu has been trying to build a coalition to get the world’s highest court to issue a legal statement, or an advisory opinion, on climate change. And on Monday, the climate justice movement made important headway when Pacific Island nations threw their weight behind Vanuatu’s efforts. [More than a dozen countries and territories](https://www.forumsec.org/2022/07/17/report-communique-of-the-51st-pacific-islands-forum-leaders-meeting/) in the Pacific region, including Australia and New Zealand, made public their support for the initiative soon after the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Suva, Fiji, which concluded on July 14. This comes amid an explosion in domestic litigation over the past few years across the globe, and interest in trying to leverage international courts to address the climate crisis has grown. For example, [the Commission of Small Island States (COSIS) on Climate Change and International Law](https://time.com/6137289/climate-change-responsibility/), aims to be the first to bring a case to the U.N. International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to help determine the obligations of countries under international law and hold polluters accountable. Vanuatu, meanwhile, is hoping it can compel the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue an opinion on the obligations countries have to protect the rights of “present and future generations” from the harmful impacts of climate change. To achieve this, Vanuatu has to get enough United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) members to vote in favor of its idea to compel the ICJ to act. Today’s announcement makes it increasingly likely that Vanuatu may be able to muster enough support to make that happen. While an ICJ opinion isn’t binding, it could go a long way in holding nations accountable for protecting human rights, from the right to food to the right to life itself, which are becoming increasingly vulnerable as climate change worsens. --- ### More from TIME --- “This really signals to the whole world that the region that has the most significant moral voice in the climate crisis is demanding an advisory opinion on climate change,” says Vishal Prasad, a campaigner at the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC), which is advocating for the ICJ advisory opinion. “Hopefully that will signal to the world to listen.” Here’s what to know about the campaign, and what an advisory opinion on climate change from the ICJ might mean. ## **Who’s supporting the initiative?** The idea to get the International Court of Justice in the Hague to issue an advisory opinion on climate change was conceived in 2019 by more than 20 students at the University of South Pacific in Vanuatu. Bob Loughman, the Prime Minister of the tiny island nation Vanuatu—which is made of some 80 islands stretching across 800 miles of the South Pacific Ocean—announced in September 2021 that he would build a coalition of countries to take the push forward. The list of countries supporting the movement has been steadily growing. In March, [the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)](https://caricom.org/communique-thirty-third-inter-sessional-meeting-of-caricom-heads-of-government/), a group of 14 Caribbean nations and dependencies, said they supported Vanuatu. The Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States, a 79-country bloc, [said in June](https://mobile.twitter.com/blueoceanlaw/status/1539165684525146114) that it endorses Vanuatu’s initiative. And about 1,500 civil society groups also support the campaign, according to [Radio New Zealand](https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/470622/flotilla-challenges-leaders-to-support-vanuatu-s-climate-change-bid). Pacific Island Forum (PIF) members, like Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa, endorsed Vanuatu’s push on July 18\. So did [Australia—one of the world’s largest exporters](https://time.com/6177436/australia-election-climate-change/) of fossil fuels—which is trying hard to shore up its relationship with Pacific Island nations as [China also courts the region](https://time.com/6168173/solomon-islands-china-security-pact/). Not only does that add to the number of countries supporting the initiative, but it also adds a certain moral weight to the initiative.  Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (front) takes a selfie with fellow leaders during the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Suva on July 14, 2022. William West—POOL/AFP/Getty Images Climate change has long been a top priority for Pacific Island countries, which are among the world’s most vulnerable places to the impacts of rising global temperatures such as rising sea levels that threaten the existence of some islands, and worsening storms. Vanuatu, for example, has been hit with a devastating string of cyclones in recent years. In 2020, [Cyclone Harold](https://time.com/5820382/coronavirus-cyclone-harold-vanuatu/), the strongest storm ever recorded in the Southeast Pacific, wiped out homes, schools, medical facilities, and damaged crops. In 2015, Cyclone Pam caused $450 million in economic losses, wiping out [64% of the country’s GDP](https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2016/06/17/50-million-to-improve-roads-schools-and-buildings-in-vanuatu). **Read More:** [_Imagine If The Rich Countries That Caused Climate Change Actually Took Responsibility_](https://time.com/6137289/climate-change-responsibility/) ## **What would an ICJ advisory opinion mean for climate action?** Under the U.N. Charter, the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) can request the ICJ to give an advisory opinion on any legal question of concern to the international community. Although the exact question that will be posed to the ICJ is not yet clear, leaders of the PIF said in [a statement](https://www.forumsec.org/2022/07/17/report-communique-of-the-51st-pacific-islands-forum-leaders-meeting/) following the meeting that they looked forward to close collaboration in the development of the question that will be posed to the ICJ to ensure “maximum impact in terms of limiting emissions to 1.5 degrees, including obligations of all major emitters past, present and future.” Although advisory opinions aren’t legally binding, the court says they carry “great legal weight and moral authority.” As its website explains: “[Advisory opinions](https://www.icj-cij.org/en/advisory-jurisdiction) also contribute to the clarification and development of international law and thereby to the strengthening of peaceful relations between states.” “You are essentially first talking about putting human rights at the center of climate change discussions,” says 26-year-old Prasad, who is from Fiji. “When you have the court clarify what the obligations of states are, what the state needs to do at minimum to protect the rights of its people and those to come, it will also help strengthen existing mechanisms and processes that seek to address the climate crisis.” An advisory opinion could have a big impact on large emitters. Tim Stephens, a professor of international law at the University of Sydney Law School, tells TIME that it’s unlikely that the ICJ would be asked to directly address the responsibility of or liability of large emitter states for climate damage. But, he says, “even if the \[ICJ\] deals with wider legal issues such as the general obligations of states to protect the rights of future generations against the adverse effects of climate change it will carry implications for all governments … that continue to make a significant contribution to the climate crisis either through their own domestic emissions or to the emissions of other countries as a result of fossil fuel exports.” But an advisory opinion that strongly says that countries have concrete duties under existing law to take urgent action, or that historic polluters are liable for the loss and damage suffered by the rest of the world could be “a big blow to politics as usual,” says Douglas Guilfoyle, a professor of international law and security at the University of New South Wales’ Canberra campus. “The battle will ultimately be won or lost at the national level,” he says, but “the ICJ can arm national courts with a powerful precedent they can refer to or draw on to develop their own national law.” **Read More:** [_A Handful of Climate-Focused Independents Just Upended Australia’s Political System. Here’s What Comes Next_](https://time.com/6181345/climate-independents-australia-election/) ## **What happens next?** Vanuatu needs a simple majority of members to vote at the [UNGA](https://sdg.iisd.org/events/77th-session-of-the-un-general-assembly-unga-77/) meeting which opens in September, to give the ICJ a mandate to act. “Nothing is ever certain in a U.N. vote, but I’d be optimistic for Vanuatu’s chances,” says Guilfoyle, pointing out that there are 38 [small island developing state members](https://time.com/6114143/vulnerable-countries-influence-cop26/) of the U.N. alone, that many sub-saharan African countries are likely interested in the question, and that places like India, which haven’t yet voiced support for the initiative, have [suffered severe heat waves](https://time.com/6196564/climate-change-obesity-long-term-health-impacts/) in recent months and could potentially be swayed. It will be important that Vanuatu crafts a question that can attract majority support in the UNGA and which the ICJ can usefully address, says Stephens of the University of Sydney Law School. “This will be a challenge as any question that involves issues of responsibility or liability is unlikely to receive widespread support,” he says. Wealthy nations have failed to make good on a promise to provide poorer nations $100 billion a year to help them deal with climate change. In June, rich countries blocked the inclusion of “loss and damages”—or, compensation from historically high-emitting countries for the harm caused by the resulting carbon pollution—from the agenda of the COP27 climate meetings in November. “On the other hand,” says Stephens, “a question that is too broad and general may not give the ICJ an opportunity to make a constructive contribution on this vitally important topic.” Prasad is hopeful that Monday’s endorsement is an important step forward for the movement, and that it will have global ripple effects. “We’re hoping to see a groundswell of support coming from this announcement,” he says. ## Transcript So the first time I noticed the mangroves was in the 90s. I used to fish a lot. We used to go deep sea fishing and I used to see a distant green line on the horizon every time we pass by to go out into the open ocean. So we started venturing close, we discovered that this tiny thin line was 45-50 feet tall. And the scale of this assortments was absolutely magical. The first time I saw this forest that would sink in water. Look at that trunk. Yeah. So it takes a while for others, other plants to start growing around it again. But the immediate reaction is this empty of the area. Otherwise, otherwise, if you look there. Now this is this is the natural growth of a mangrove, very dense, lots of little shoots coming up that are growing up. This is not natural. In a mangrove forest. Pakistan is home to one of the most successful mangrove restoration projects in the world. Globally, there is a renewed focus on safeguarding mangroves because they not only protect coastlines, they also suck more carbon out of the atmosphere per acre than any other tree. But here in Karachi, it's a different story. As rampant development, illegal logging, chemical dumping and raw sewage threaten the fragile ecosystem that lines the coast of this mega city. Tariq Alexander Qaiser is on a mission to protect these urban mangroves. Until recently, we had seven species. Previously, we had more, but we had seven species of mangroves three went extinct. 95% of the mangrove that we have that is left with us is that our Avicennia Marina. It's just this incredible tree, where it will not only absorb the carbon and sequester carbon in the soil in itself and its roots it will tolerate and absorb and lock into the soil. The metals from the tanneries, the Chromiums, the leads of all the dyeing chemicals that are coming out of our textile factories. It can deal with the organic toxins that were pouring out because Karachi does not treat its sewage. And it's a incredible tonnage of waste is dumped into the ocean every day. And this tree is able to take it and absorb it. In recent years, Qaiser started using the power of social media to spread awareness. So I would send the videos out on WhatsApp to about 1,800 or 1,900 people with the request that piece forwarded, and it got moved around a lot. So it went to a lot of the officials who were in charge of forestry, who are in charge provincial government and to people who in the federal government, people who were in a position to do something about it. And to my greatest surprise, they did. There was at times within the hour response and instructions given to try and stop the cutters to send the security and the forestry department people out to the point places. Responses of the forest will be protected. What are the mangroves? Mangroves are the plants that grow in the junction of sea and the river water like in a brackish water. An architect by trade, Qaiser helped design this mangrove ecosystem exhibit at the newly open MagnifiScience Centre in Karachi. We're the first contemporary interactive science center in Pakistan. Mangroves are not just important to city it's important to coastline and they protect the coastline of course from tsunamis etc. But they are also the nursery where your crabs and prawns and fish, you know they spawn in the roots of those mangoes and they of course provide the fish that we need for our fishing industry and to feed ourselves as well. So it's it's imperative that the children that come here realize the importance of what our environment is and what it is that they need to protect. They should be they should feel a certain affinity to it. As sea levels rise due to global warming, mangroves play an even more important role in protecting coastal cities like Karachi. The United Nations estimates that the benefits of these trees which also provide food through their fisheries and function as tourist attractions are worth more than $450 billion a year to the world economy. In our country where the problems are so immense and so real poverty of inequity, and and on and on and on. The cutting of a tree is sad to say, but might be of not such a great consequence but it is. But it is because it's a lifeline, the lifeblood of our lives out here of the quality of lives. We've got a small window to save these forests, and there's absolutely a chance a good chance to keep this for future generations. But it's a limited amount of time that we have before the forest crosses at critical threshold and they all die. So, the water has to be cleaned, the city has to be responsible. The cutting needs to be sustainable. But if it's not done in balance, we lose the forest. If it's done in balance, we will sustain both people and industries. We all depend on each other. And at the end of the day, we are all food for each other. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6197027/pacific-island-nations-vanuatu-climate-change/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6197027/pacific-island-nations-vanuatu-climate-change/"},"headline":"Pacific Island Nations Are Bringing Their Climate Justice Fight to the World's Highest Court","datePublished":"2022-07-18T12:34:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:42:37.795Z","description":"Pacific Island nations want an International Court of Justice opinion on the need to protect human rights as climate change worsens.","url":"https://time.com/6197027/pacific-island-nations-vanuatu-climate-change/","keywords":["Geopolitics","climate change","Explainer","overnight","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbab813b3ed571bf7/698a33b3b3fce3c58b0c9747/PIF-Floatilla.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amy Gunia","jobTitle":"Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong.","url":"https://time.com/author/amy-gunia/"}],"articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbab813b3ed571bf7/698a33b3b3fce3c58b0c9747/PIF-Floatilla.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"PIF-Floatilla","caption":"Climate activists call on Pacific Islands leaders to endorse Vanuatu's push for the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on climate change in Suva, Fiji on July 9, 2022.","creditText":"Courtesy of Greenpeace Australia Pacific","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/geopolitics/","name":"Geopolitics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6197027/pacific-island-nations-vanuatu-climate-change/","name":"Pacific Island Nations Are Bringing Their Climate Justice Fight to the World's Highest Court"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Miraculous Trees That Could Save Pakistan's Largest City from Climate Disaster","description":"Pakistan’s Indus River Delta is home to hundreds of thousands of acres of mangroves, and the country boasts one of the most successful mangrove reforestation projects in the world. 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