September 25, 2023
HAMBURG, GERMANY —Today, two weeks of public hearings regarding state responsibility for addressing the climate crisis came to a close at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
More than 50 states and organizations, including the Center for International Environmental Law, weighed in through written submissions and/or oral arguments. The hearings marked the first time an international judicial body has been called upon to clarify countries’ obligations to protect the world’s oceans from fossil fuel-driven climate change, which threatens human rights, biodiversity, and the very existence of many island nations.
This process, which was initiated by a request from the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS), is particularly significant because ITLOS is the first of the three international judicial bodies currently working to prepare advisory opinions on climate change. In separate proceedings, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice have also been asked to clarify states’ international legal obligations with respect to climate change.
Based on the hearings, ITLOS will now deliberate on the case and is expected to issue an advisory opinion in the next 6-8 months, by early-mid 2024.
The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) released the following statements:
Nikki Reisch, Director of CIEL’s Climate & Energy Program:
“These historic hearings came at a momentous time. Climate change is taking an ever greater toll on the world’s oceans, due to the inexcusable failure of states to act. As the first international court to address climate and ocean protection, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has an opportunity to send an unequivocal message to governments around the world: their obligations to curb fossil-fueled climate destruction and redress resultant harms neither start nor end with the Paris Agreement. Long-standing duties to protect and preserve the marine environment, avoid transboundary harm, and uphold human rights require states to do everything within their power to minimize further warming through proven measures, not speculative technofixes that put the ocean and communities at greater peril. The UNFCCC alone has clearly not sufficed to end greenhouse gas pollution of the marine environment or prevent adverse impacts on the biodiversity, communities and climate that depend on it. A strong opinion from ITLOS can help catalyze the kind of action necessary to keep billions of people literally above water and out of harm’s way. The future of the small island states that initiated this process — and indeed of all humanity — depends on it.”
Joie Chowdhury, Senior Attorney, CIEL’s Climate & Energy Program:
“The recent hearings before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) provide a significant opportunity for the tribunal to clarify that, under international law, states must urgently phase out fossil fuels, adopt effective adaptation measures, and provide remedies for impacted communities. Such an advisory opinion by ITLOS would be a critical step to effectively safeguard marine ecosystems, ensure climate accountability and protect human rights. With political inertia plaguing climate negotiations, climate inaction is resulting in the pervasive pollution of our precious oceans and violations of human rights all across the world. As state pleadings made clear, many nations, especially those most impacted by and least responsible for the climate crisis, are looking to ITLOS to compel ambitious climate action and advance climate justice. The stakes could not be higher for present and future generations.”
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Media contact: For more information please contact CIEL’s press office at press@ciel.org
NOTE TO EDITORS
A recording of the hearings can be watched here and written submissions/verbatim records/other relevant documents can be found here.
The joint submission of CIEL and Greenpeace International can be read here.