The International Court of Justice, the top United Nations court, decided Wednesday that countries would be violating international law if they fail to do their part to protect the planet from ongoing climate issues.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has issued an advisory opinion affirming that countries are legally obligated to protect their populations from the effects of climate change. This opinion follows a two-year review prompted by a grassroots movement, initially led by youth in Vanuatu, and supported by over a hundred countries experiencing severe climate impacts.

The court's opinion states that a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is essential for the enjoyment of human rights, including the rights to life, health, and an adequate standard of living. Although the ICJ's opinions are non-binding, the decision sets a legal benchmark that could shape future climate negotiations and international agreements, including those involving countries not party to existing climate treaties.

UN top court delivers climate action decision

Right now, the International Court of Justice is delivering an advisory opinion on countries' climate change obligations. The historic opinion could set a legal benchmark for action around the globe to the climate crisis. Scripps News business and tech correspondent Maura Barrett is live in Chicago for us now. Maura, this opinion has been two years in the making after an unprecedented number of countries joined a grassroots movement to advocate for legal action on climate change. So why did the court have to consider, or what did the court have to consider, and what was the ruling that it found? Holly, this is really a historic moment in the world of climate action, and basically over the last two years, the court has been reviewing the different international climate treaties that exist, like the Paris Agreement, for example, and reviewing the two key questions that were brought by this grassroots movement, and I want to point out it's really significant because all of this started from a youth-led organization on the Pacific island of Vinyatu, which is a very small, very remote island that has been dealing with the effects of climate change, and their people have had to wrestle with the fact that they might have to leave their home because of flooding, because disasters that they faced. And then more than a hundred other countries got on board because, as we know, a lot of other international countries are experiencing, as we are in the U.S., experiencing these intense effects of weather disasters from climate change. And so when they all got together, they basically posed before the court, and the court agreed to consider these two questions. The key questions the court is reviewing today are whether countries are legally obligated to address climate change, and then what are the consequences if they fail to do so. So basically, what obligation do these countries have in terms of making a good-faith effort to mitigate the climate effects that we're seeing? And so the reading of this advisory opinion has been going on since 9 a.m. this morning, Eastern Time, so almost the last two hours. We finally just got through the first question, and the court did agree that countries are legally obligated, this is their advisory opinion, to protect their countries from climate change, to protect and mitigate these climate effects. And so directly, they said that the court considers that a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a precondition for the enjoyment of human rights, and they listed out the right to life, the right to health, the right to an adequate standard of living, which means access to water, food, and housing. And so basically, they're saying these human rights and the sustainable protection of the environment go hand in hand. And so as for that second question in terms of the legal obligation, that's what, as you can see on your screen, the president there is still laying out the court's thought processes before they deliver whether or not there is that legal obligation, Holly. And more, let's talk about the court. So the International Court of Justice, it works a little differently than courts that perhaps we're used to covering, in that their opinions are non-binding. So member countries really don't necessarily have to enforce what they're ruling, so then why does this opinion carry so much weight? So the International Court of Justice is very interesting in that they can't legally enforce this guidance necessarily, but it does set a sort of precedent when it comes to future climate negotiations. They're pulling together all of these other international precedents and standards to then set this opinion and guidance. And so that could ultimately inform future climate negotiations like that's upcoming at the COP conference in Brazil later this year. And while certain states aren't, like the United States, for example, aren't legally bound, as I mentioned, if other countries are setting this precedent or putting it into the deals, like in a G20 agreement that the U.S. is part of, the U.S. then would also have to agree if they're choosing to enter that agreement. The court did address the unique situation with the U.S. given its relationship with the Paris Agreement. And without naming the United States specifically, it did say that the court affirms that states that are not party to one of the U.N. climate treaties, like I mentioned, must, quote, nevertheless, meet equivalent obligations under customary international law. And so they are saying that they still would hold the U.S. accountable in terms of making sure that mitigation practices are in place. But again, this basically just sets the standard when it comes to respected practices of where negotiation can lie, Holly. Gotcha. All right. Scripps News business and tech correspondent Maura Barrett live for us. Thank you for laying that all out. Great explanation. We appreciate it.

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