The International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Obligations

• The ICJ’s opinion on climate obligations, based on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, identifies the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR&RC) as the core guiding principle for determining the implementation of climate change treaties.

• The opinion insists that the temperature target for limiting global warming as in Article 2.1 (a) of the Paris Agreement no longer holds.

• The opinion has raised questions on its interpretation of the Paris Agreement’s temperature goals and its occlusion of the development imperatives of the global South.

• The Court emphasizes the totality of the climate regime, including the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement.

• The Court notes the qualification to differentiation between developed and developing nations introduced by the Paris Agreement, viewing it as a nuance that what constitutes a ‘developed’ or ‘developing’ nations is not static.

• The Court concludes that Parties’ mitigation efforts must be aligned with collectively achieving the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal, not the range provided in the Agreement.

• The opinion does not articulate a more stringent framework of enforcement, holding that the provision of means of implementation and domestic mitigation action are only obligations of conduct.