The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has started to consider its advisory opinion on the obligations of states in respect of climate change.

The Court has met with scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the Hague to further the Courts understanding of the key scientific findings on the impacts and future risks of climate change, and options for adaptation and mitigation. Led by IPCC Chair Jim Skea, the invited experts will outline the scientific background and methods. The experts will not consider the economic or political ramifications, and contain themselves to the affects of climate change.

A collection of small island states has long sensed a frustration at the speed of aid and progress under a succession of COPs, and given the immediate threat to their existence from rising sea levels has taken the unprecedented step of seeking the opinion of the international court. Prominent in this group has been the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS), although others are also involved.

The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and has a twofold role: to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States; and to give advisory opinions on legal questions.

Any ruling will only be advisory but will carry considerable political weight whichever way the court decides. If the court decides in favour of the small island states, the concept of the ‘polluter pays’ will be taken to another level, at least in moral terms.

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