The world’s highest court has put global governments and corporations on notice, in a landmark win for child campaigners, acknowledging the adverse impacts of climate change on child rights, and offering children renewed hope.
The Advisory Opinion delivered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) finds that States’ legal obligations to address climate change extend beyond existing climate agreements. It also found that "states must take their obligations under international human rights law into account when implementing their obligations under the climate change treaties and other relevant environmental treaties."
While not legally binding, leading environmental lawyers say the ruling “could become a guiding star for climate policies at all levels of governance”, including how States are held accountable under multiple areas of international law.
More than 190 countries lodged the request for an Advisory Opinion with the UN General Assembly in 2023, underscoring a global desire to clarify countries’ obligations in addressing the climate crisis. The hearings saw an unprecedented level of participation from countries across the world.
The Court found that countries’ obligations extend beyond existing climate agreements, raising questions about the adequacy of current multilateral negotiation processes.
While not legally binding, the opinion carries deep moral authority. It is expected to shape international law and set a global precedent for how governments respond to the climate crisis – and how they are held accountable by those most affected.
Save the Children warns under current climate commitments about 100 million of the estimated 120 million children born in 2020, or 83%, will face unprecedented lifetime exposure to extreme heat.
Save the Children Vanuatu’s NextGen Youth Ambassador, 16 year old Vepaiamele, travelled to The Hague with the Government of Vanuatu’s delegation to represent the voices of children and young people in the Pacific - one of the regions most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Vepaiamele says of the court’s finding,
“This ICJ Advisory Opinion is a success after decades of failure after failure by nations across the world, as it clearly says what responsibilities all States have in order to fight this climate crisis.
“This Advisory Opinion is everything I hoped for and I am so happy with this outcome as I know it will pave the way for a safer future for youth like myself and future generations, too.”
Save the Children Australia CEO Mat Tinkler says,
“The ICJ’s opinion strengthens the argument that climate inaction is a form of intergenerational injustice, disproportionately borne by those least responsible and least equipped to adapt.
“Here in Australia, children in remote communities are already experiencing worsening heatwaves, displacement due to climate fuelled disasters, and compounding disadvantages across education and mental health. In the Pacific, children are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, with some communities having to constantly rebuild after multiple cyclones in the last few years alone. These are not future scenarios—they are current realities.
“Save the Children welcomes the finding from the ICJ, and we also urge governments and development agencies to ensure that climate finance reaches those on the frontline of the crisis.
“Currently, only 2.4% of climate finance from multilateral funding sources is child centred. Even without the Court’s opinion, we know that States must do far more to protect children from the worst impacts of this crisis, including by significantly increasing climate finance to uphold children’s rights and access to health, education and protection.”
In light of the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion, Save the Children Australia is calling on the Australian government to increase financial commitments to major climate financing mechanisms, including AU$400m to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and AU$100m to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD). Ongoing commitments to such funds will help communities recover from climate induced loss and damage.
Save the Children is working in partnership with the GCF and national governments to deliver child responsive climate action, including implementation of two of the Pacific’s largest locally led adaptation projects in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. Save the Children is also working closely with the Government of Tonga to support a climate smart education project that builds resilience in classrooms to improve education outcomes.
Human-induced climate change is driving up global temperatures, with the past ten years the warmest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organisation. Children, particularly those affected by inequality and discrimination, bear the brunt of climate change impacts that are already forcing them from their homes, putting food out of reach, damaging schools and increasing risks like child marriage as they are forced out of education and into poverty and food shortages.
Limiting warming temperatures through the rapid phase-out of the use and subsidy of fossil fuels is critical for children’s rights and lives, Save the Children said. Earlier this year, research released by the child rights organisation with the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) found that the difference between global temperature rise of 1.5°C and 2.7°C could see 38 million more children from the 2020 birth cohort face unprecedented lifetime exposure to extreme heatwaves. [1]
ENDS
Spokespeople available: Save the Children campaigner Vepaiamele, 16, in Vanuatu
MEDIA CONTACT: Mala Darmadi via WhatsApp on +61425562113 or media.team@savethechildren.org.au.
Notes to Editors:
Multimedia (Please attribute to Save The Children) here:
- stills and edited vision (using drone) filmed 22/7 of a demonstration by young people in Vanuatu, ahead of ICJ advisory opinion, saying “Eyes On The Court, The Youth Are Watching”
- Vepaiamele in the Hague last year at ICJ hearing
- Vepaiamele in Vanuatu
- Vanuatu general vision
Save the Children has worked closely with the Pacific Students Fighting for Climate Alliance to ensure the voices of children and young people are incorporated into countries’ written and oral submissions to the Court.
[1] The report found that, for children born in 2020, if global temperature rise is limited to 1.5°C rather than reaching 2.7°C above pre-industrial levels:
- About 38 million would be spared from facing unprecedented lifetime exposure to heatwaves;
- About 8 million would avoid unprecedented lifetime exposure to crop failures;
- About 5 million would be spared from unprecedented lifetime exposure to river floods;
- About 5 million would avoid unprecedented lifetime exposure to tropical cyclones;
- About 2 million would avoid unprecedented lifetime exposure to droughts;
- About 1.5 million children would be spared unprecedented lifetime exposure to wildfires.