Many were presenting their country's first-ever ICJ submission and did not mince their words in the Great Hall of Justice, normally the scene of weighty legal arguments from austere lawyers in robes and wigs.
"The outcome of these proceedings will reverberate across generations, determining the fate of nations like mine and the future of our planet," said Vanuatu's representative Ralph Regenvanu, opening the hearings.
"This may well be the most consequential case in the history of humanity. Let us not allow future generations to look back and wonder why the cause of their doom was condoned," added Regenvanu.
Several speakers wore vibrant national dress, also sporting traditional necklaces and headdresses, a marked contrast to the sober suits usually seen in the Peace Palace.
Showing powerful images of devastation to the judges, many portrayed the battle against the worst ravages of climate change as nothing short of an existential struggle for survival.
"Saint Lucians live with a ticking clock at the start of every single hurricane season, which... causes cataclysmic devastation," said the Caribbean island's representative, Jan Yves Remy.
"Our fisherfolk complain already of dwindling catches. Many of our pristine beaches, including the one my father grew up on... have been replaced by barren rocks," she added.
- 'Story of inspiration' -
Most vulnerable island nations took aim at wealthy large polluting countries for failing to provide sufficient funding to mitigate the effects of climate change.
"As seas rise faster than predicted, these states must stop. This court must not permit them to condemn our lands and our people to watery graves," thundered John Silk from the Marshall Islands in Micronesia.
The tiny Melanesian island nation of Vanuatu spearheaded the drive to bring the case to the ICJ, corralling a group of countries to push the United Nations to ask its top court for its opinion.
The initiative began in a classroom at the University of the South Pacific in 2019.
About 27 law students wrote to Pacific leaders asking them to take up the campaign -- and Vanuatu answered the call.
Five years later, one of those students, Vishal Prasad from Fiji, stood on the steps of the Peace Palace and told journalists that the initiative was the culmination of an idea that seemed "ambitious, crazy, weird and insurmountable".
Asked what he would tell his fellow students, the 28-year-old said: "We have done what we set out to do. We have taken the world's biggest problem to the world's highest court."
"It's a story of inspiration to everyone, especially to young people who may not find hope in what's happening around them," said Prasad.
"But if they look within and if they look in the community of young people, there is enough inspiration, enough hope to get us through this."
'Huge disappointment' at ICJ climate hearings: global south representative
The Hague (AFP) Dec 13, 2024 -
As marathon climate change hearings wrapped up Friday at the world's top court, a representative for vulnerable nations voiced "huge disappointment" at the attitude of top polluters and urged judges to make them legally accountable for historic emissions.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has played host to history over the past 10 days, with a record number of nations and organisations addressing the court.
More than 100 speakers have presented, ranging from diplomats of the world's top economies to representatives of tiny island nations making a debut appearance before the UN's top court.
In what many experts have painted as a "David Vs Goliath" scrap, stark divisions have emerged between top polluters and those suffering most from climate change.
Major powers such as the United States, China, and India have warned the judges not to go beyond the existing legal framework for combating climate change.
But smaller states argue this blueprint, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is insufficient to mitigate the devastating effects of the changing climate.
Representing a group of 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states, Cristelle Pratt told AFP there was "huge disappointment" at developed countries but that it was "quite unsurprising."
"We cannot just rely on the climate treaties to address this global crisis," said Pratt, from the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States.
"We need to look to the full body of international law. And we do need to do this because of equity and justice. Every human being on this planet has a right to live a worthwhile life," she added.
- 'Reverberate across the world' -
The 15-judge ICJ panel has been tasked with crafting a so-called advisory opinion to answer two questions.
Firstly, what legal obligations do nations have to prevent climate change? Secondly, what are the legal consequences for countries whose emissions have harmed the environment, especially that of developing states?
This second question is where many vulnerable countries hope the ICJ will clarify a legal requirement for historic emitters to stump up for the damage caused.
"We do need to look at historical responsibilities and hold those emitters, mainly colonial powers, to account," said Pratt.
"That certainly is something that we from the global south will be hoping to hear," she added, mentioning that many of her member countries were servicing "unsustainable debt."
The ICJ's advisory opinion is non-binding and will take many months to emerge.
Nikki Reisch, Director of the climate and energy programme at the Center for International Environmental Law, said the ruling would "reverberate across the world."
"This is the world's highest court and their opinion will carry weight.... there is an opportunity for this court to break through the impunity that we've seen for decades and to affirm the basis for accountability," she told AFP.
"It's not just about paying compensation for the mounting cost of climate change. It's about structural reforms, debt cancellation, ecosystem restoration," she added.
- 'Life and death' -
The countries Pratt represents have a population of 1.3 billion but produce three percent of global emissions, she noted.
After bitterly fought COP29 climate talks, wealthy polluters agreed to find at least $300 billion a year by 2035 to help poorer countries' transition to clean energy and prepare for an increase in extreme weather.
"The pledges are really quite insignificant," said Pratt.
Several top polluters have argued it is impossible to enshrine into international law a responsibility for past emissions and the damage caused.
"We've seen time and again here in these halls that the fossil fuel giants... have urged this court to ignore history, to sweep their historical conduct, the decades of conduct that has brought the world to the brink, under the rug," said Reisch.
The hearings have also been notable for representatives of tiny island states, often in colourful national dress, recounting searing stories of the devastation suffered by their people.
"These hearings have put into stark relief that this is a matter of life and death for so many people," Reisch told AFP.
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