By Nancy Price, Earth Democracy Committee
WILPF’s Environmental Working Group’s Earth Day article stresses the need to “fix the system, not the symptoms,” asserting that the persistence of environmental crises stems from unchanged foundational systems, rather than individual actions. The article maintains that holding systemic actors—major polluters, fossil fuel corporations, wealthy nations, and militaries—accountable is essential for real progress, shifting the focus toward climate justice through systemic transformation.
Similarly, this Earth Day’s call to action—OUR POWER, OUR PLANET—reminds us: “Don’t underestimate your power. When your voice and your actions are united with thousands or millions of others around the world, we create a movement that is inclusive, impactful, and impossible to ignore.”
Youth Leadership: Building a Global Movement for Climate Justice
Significantly, over the past seven years, the World’s Youth for Climate Justice created a broad international movement:
- In 2019, 27 law students from the University of the South Pacific organized Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC).
- The government of Vanuatu, a low-lying island nation east of Australia, joined with 18 member states of PISFCC and the Pacific Island Forum to present a Resolution to the U.N. General Assembly requesting an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice on climate justice.
- World’s Youth For Climate Justice built a youth-led coalition of 800 campaigners in more than 50 countries. Their mission is to transform international law into a tool for climate justice and accountability. Campaigners are organized into five regional fronts—Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Europe, and Latin America—with no North American or MENA front. This structure ensures every region’s perspective is represented globally and that plans are implemented locally. It shows the power of youth worldwide to demand systemic change.
The ICJ Advisory Opinion: Defining State Obligations
In March 2023, the U.N. General Assembly adopted by consensus a decision allowing the International Criminal Court to issue an Advisory Opinion and expressed its willingness to consider such an opinion to strengthen climate action in accordance with clear legal obligations to advance climate justice, operationalizing the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion.
On July 23, 2025, the International Court of Justice delivered the Advisory Opinion on The Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change, which includes:
- A 1.5°C limit is legally binding and must guide all state conduct.
- States have binding obligations under customary international law to prevent foreseeable climate harm and the resulting rights violations; these obligations apply to all countries, including those that have withdrawn from the Paris Agreement.
- Fossil fuel subsidies, exploration, licenses, and continued production can breach international law.
- Climate harm can be attributed to individual states.
- States must regulate private actors, including fossil fuel corporations whose emissions cause harm, including transboundary devastation.
- Breach of obligations triggers accountability, including cessation, guarantee of non-repetition, and reparations.
On Feb.6, 2026, Vanuatu introduced a draft resolution to the U.N. General Assembly endorsing the 2025 International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on climate change. There will be discussions of the text before a vote on the final text expected in early May.
Vanuatu’s Stand for Climate Justice: Survival Over Politics
Vanuatu and other small island states face existential threats from a climate crisis they did not cause. Brad Adams, executive director at Climate Rights International, states, “Countries around the world—all of whom are also facing the impacts of global warming—must stand with Vanuatu at the United Nations and oppose Trump’s bullying tactics,” along with opposition from fossil fuel nations like Saudi Arabia, China, and Russia. Despite pressure, Vanuatu refuses to withdraw the resolution, emphasizing that for low-lying island nations, climate action is a matter of survival, not politics.
Ralph Regenvanu, Minister of Climate Change of Vanuatu, stated, “In the current geopolitical context, sustained commitment to the rule of law is more important than ever … climate change is no exception. Upholding the Court’s clarification of existing obligations is essential for the credibility of the international system and for effective collective action … We support the ICJ’s advisory opinion moving forward in tracking the implementation of State accountability. We call upon all States to support the international rule of law by voting to adopt the resolution in the United Nations General Assembly.”
Resources for further learning:
A Note From Climate Rights International’s Founder and Executive Director. https://cri.org/a-note-from-climate-rights-internationals-founder-and-executive-director/
United Nations: States Should Support Vanuatu Climate Resolution: Reject U.S. Bullying and Stand with Facts, Science, Law. https://cri.org/united-nations-states-should-support-vanuatu-climate-resolution/
