Top emitter China tells World Court that UN treaties should provide the basis
4/12/2024 6:08
China told the top U.N.
court on Tuesday that existing U.N. treaties should provide the
basis for its advisory opinion on states' legal obligations to
fight global warming and address the consequences of their
historic contributions to it.
The U.N. General Assembly, after a campaign spearheaded by small
island states, asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to
issue an opinion on countries' legal responsibility for the
negative impact of climate change. One of those states, Vanuatu,
on Monday asked the court to recognise the harms climate change
had caused and order reparations for its consequences.
China, one of the world's top two emitters of the greenhouse
gases that cause global warming together with the U.S., said it
understood the "enormous difficulties" faced by developing
countries such as the small island states, which are vulnerable
especially to rising sea levels and increasingly violent storms.
But Ma Xinmin, a legal advisor in China's foreign ministry,
told the court that the existing treaties produced by
U.N.-backed climate change negotiations, which include many
non-binding provisions, should be the benchmark for determining
states' obligations.
"China hopes that the court will uphold the U.N. climate
change negotiations mechanism as the primary channel for global
climate governance," Ma said.
While advisory opinions from the ICJ, often called the World
Court, are not binding, they are legally and politically
significant.
Experts say its eventual opinion on climate change will
probably be cited in climate change-driven lawsuits in courts
from Europe to Latin America and beyond.
Over a hundred states and organisations will give their views in
the coming weeks. The United States is due to address the court
on Wednesday. The court's opinion is expected to be delivered in
2025.
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