International Court Extends Timeline For Climate Change Opinion

Forbes Money International Court Extends Timeline For Climate Change Opinion Jon McGowan Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I am an attorney who writes about ESG policy, laws, and regulations. Following Sep 20, 2023, 04:27pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin International Court of Justice.

(AP Photo/Peter Dejong) Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved At the request of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice will issue an advisory opinion on the liability of countries for damage caused by climate change. The Court has extended the deadline for states and international organizations to weigh in until January 22, 2024.

On March 29, the United Nations General Assembly asked the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion on the legal obligations of countries in preventing climate change. The opinion, while non-binding, will give an indicator of how the Court may interpret future climate related litigation and guide future legislative development. As the opinion was requested by the UN, there are no other active parties to the proceedings.

However, state and international organizations are able to submit written statements to offer their legal arguments to the Court. Initially, the Court set a deadline of October 20, 2023, to submit written statements. The states would then have until January 22, 2024, to respond to the written statements provided by other entities.

The Republic of Vanuatu, along with 14 co-signing member States, requested an extension of the timeline. In response, Judge Joan E. Donoghue, an American jurist who was elected as President of the ICJ in 2021, issued an updated order extending the deadline to provide a written statement to January 22, and April 22 to respond.

The ICJ has appeared to have taken a stance that any state that is a member of the UN may submit written statements without approval of the Court. International entities need to submit a request to the Court for approval , similar to the Amicus Curiae process of U. S.

courts. So far, the Court has authorized the African Union, the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law; the European Union; the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA); the International Union for Conservation of Nature; the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG); the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS); and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to participate in the proceedings. MORE FOR YOU Bright City Lights Linked To Smaller Eyes In Urban Birds: Study Hunting For The Wild And Feral Pigs Ravaging Argentina And South America What Science Communications Can Learn From Sewer Twitter The Secretariat of the UN has already submitted the supporting documents for the opinion.

The supporting documents are divided into eight parts. Part I: Request by the General Assembly for an Advisory Opinion of the Court; II: Multilateral treaties; III: Scientific reports; IV: Development of international law; V: Protection of the climate system and other parts of the environment; VI: Outcomes of United Nations conferences and follow-up processes and related documents; VII: Law of the sea; and VIII: Human rights and climate change. The treaties receiving the most focus are the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, signed in 1992; the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, signed in 1997; Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol; and the Paris Agreement.

To establish a human rights connection to the legal obligation, the Secretariat also included multiple treaties in that arena. The specific aspects of the treaties will be highlighted and argued in the written statements by the states and international organizations. It is unclear which states will be submitting written opinions and which will co-sign with others or not respond at all.

While this delay adds three months to the timeline, I suspect it will not be the last. The advisory opinion will most likely not be released until sometime in 2025. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn .

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