On July 23, 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the United Nations’ highest judicial body – issued a landmark advisory opinion that could transform the way that the world responds to the growing climate change crisis. The ICJ reinforced that mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is not merely a policy choice but a legal obligation under international law. The ICJ also determined that governments have an obligation under international law to take action on climate change and suggested that governments could face legal consequences for failing to do so.
The ICJ’s advisory opinion puts the law on the side of the people, rather than corporations and big polluters. Notably, the ICJ concluded: “Failure of a State to take appropriate action to protect the climate system from GHG emissions — including through fossil fuel production, fossil fuel consumption, the granting of fossil fuel exploration licences or the provision of fossil fuel subsidies — may constitute an internationally wrongful act which is attributable to that State.”
This follows the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ own advisory opinion on climate change earlier this year. Together, these rulings affirm that States have concrete legal duties to prevent climate harm and ensure accountability, including for private actors.
The ICJ’s advisory opinion is nonbinding but carries several powerful implications. First, it reminds governments that their obligations to respond to the climate crisis extend beyond the limited commitments that are negotiated at each year’s Conference of the Parties – a process that, according to many reports, has been increasingly influenced by the fossil fuel industry and other major emitters. Second, many regional, national, and local courts around the world can use the opinion as persuasive legal authority in litigation that seeks accountability for climate change-related harms.
Several of EarthRights’ past legal victories have drawn on international law. We plan to use this advisory opinion as we continue to push for remedies for communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis that seek accountability for corporate abuses.
While the ICJ’s advisory opinion is an important step forward, we also remain clear-eyed about the structural inequalities and barriers that prevent many frontline communities from seeking remedies for harm suffered. Corporate lobbyists continue to use their influence to prevent people from obtaining justice in the courts for human rights abuses. Meanwhile, some actors – especially from the extractive industries – have weaponized the courts and used them to silence their critics’ rights to freedom of expression and assembly. As climate change imposes increasingly severe damages on communities around the world, we continue our urgent and collective efforts to ensure that courts provide meaningful access to justice for victims of abuse, even when the perpetrators are powerful and politically connected.
The ICJ’s landmark opinion is the result of sustained advocacy of Pacific Island youth and allied movements, proving that international law can be shaped from the ground up. What it means going forward will depend on continued, collective action to ensure that courts deliver justice, even when those responsible are corporations or actors with deep political and economic influence.
