Today, the State of Palestine gave its powerful Oral Statement to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) public hearings on the request for an advisory opinion on the Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change.
WATCH HERE: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1u/k1uuql5i9s
(Scroll to 1hr 40mins)
The verbatim record: https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/187/187-20241209-ora-02-00-bi.pdf
It chose to speak to military emissions and operations in war and peace. It specifically addressed conflict emissions with the ongoing war in Gaza as an example. Specifically, Palestine requested the Court to provide specific guidance in the advisor opinion on state responsibility for GHG emissions resulting from “armed conflicts, other military activities including occupation”.
His Excellency Ammar Hijazi (Head of Mission State of Palestine to the Netherlands) delivered an incredibly powerful, thorough and moving statement. Prof Kate Mackintosh UCLA/Netherlands follows on with an equally damning presentation of the statistics.
This submission is a turning point in this effort to get the big militaries accountable for their emissions – and the trillions spent on militaries by their governments.
We can but hope that the ICJ decides to include legal obligations of states for those emissions in the advisory opinion next year.
About the ICJ Hearings
https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/28/issue/10
In March 2023, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an advisory opinion on states’ obligations to protect the climate from anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the legal consequences of causing significant harm to the climate. For the first time in history, all UN member states assented to a request for an advisory opinion. An unprecedented 91 states and international organizations subsequently submitted statements to the ICJ as part of the proceedings, far more than in any previous international court procedure. Indeed, since numerous briefs bundled views (notably those by the African Union, the European Union, and the Nordic countries) and many states are speaking before the ICJ without having submitted briefs, nearly all UN member states are participating in one way or another. Many UN member states are also appearing before the ICJ for the first time, in particular small island states. The advisory proceedings at the ICJ appear historic, even before the Court has handed down its opinion.
In early December 2024, the ICJ began hearing from participants in the advisory proceedings. With almost 60 percent of briefs, including more than 5,000 pages of argument, now available on the ICJ’s webpage, this Insight offers an initial data analysis of the written submissions currently available on four critical points of law: the advisory opinion’s scope, the principle of prevention of transboundary harm, whether human rights law imposes extra-territorial state jurisdiction, and the relevance of the law of state responsibility to violations of obligations concerning climate change.
This and last week hearings are being held at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding an advisory opinion of state responsibilities for climate change. Today the State of Palestine gave an oral submission to the ICJ and specifically addressed conflict emissions with the ongoing war in Gaza as an example. Specifically, Palestine requested the Court to provide specific guidance in the advisor opinion on state responsibility for GHG emissions resulting from “armed conflicts, other military activities including occupation”. The submission covered military emissions as well and the fact that they are currently unaccounted for.
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