The International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change of 23 July 2025
- Caroline E. Foster
26 August 2025
The Advisory Opinion has been welcomed widely, taking into account that these proceedings came about as a result of Vanuatu’s sustained, law student-initiated campaign spearheaded by the Small Island States of the Pacific and the Caribbean.
But does the Advisory Opinion offer everything we have heard it does? NZCEL’s Professor Caroline Foster has prepared a series of 14 academic working papers on key topics to enable readers to evaluate the Advisory Opinion, available by scrolling down through the links below.
Implications for continued fossil fuel exploration, exploitation, export and consumption
Harmonising international law
Stringent due diligence under customary international law
The duty to cooperate
“Room to sue”? Responsibility, causation and remedies
Finance and reparation
Sea level rise and self-determination
A human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment
Due regard for future generations
Science and the precautionary principle
Principles of international environmental law, including CBDR
Biological diversity
Business actors
What the Court has left for later, including liability
