ONLINE: Thursday, December 4th, 15:00 CET
On 23 July 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued its Advisory Opinion on States' obligations concerning climate change. Requested through a UN General Assembly resolution led by Vanuatu and other States, this Opinion is a milestone in clarifying governments' legal duties to prevent and redress climate harm.
This development follows the Advisory Opinion of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) in July 2025, which recognised the climate emergency as a human rights crisis and affirmed environmental protection as a jus cogens norm. The ICJ and IACtHR Opinions exposed compliance gaps, including weak enforcement of the Paris Agreement, and strengthened the legal foundations for climate governance and environmental protection worldwide.
Youth movements including World's Youth for Climate Justice (WYCJ) and the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC) were central in achieving these legal breakthroughs. They succeeded in mobilising governments, civil society and public opinion to secure the ICJ process and demonstrated how youth-led diplomacy and advocacy can shape international jurisprudence to catalyse global climate action.
The ICJ and IACtHR Opinions now provide young people worldwide—particularly in Africa and the Global South—with legal precedents to advance litigation, advocacy and political action. These Opinions give legitimacy to calls for accountability, reinforce intergenerational justice, and enable youth to push for stronger legal recognition of ecocide at all levels.
The Opinions also intersect with initiatives such as the campaign to recognise ecocide as the fifth international crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Recent developments at COP30 and within European institutions—including the Council of Europe's work on ecocide regulation and progress on the EU Ecocide Directive—further demonstrate the growing momentum for legal recognition of severe environmental harm.
Speakers:
Paola Vitale
Y4EL Core Team
Carola Brand
Y4EL Core Team and WY4CJ EU Front Campaigner
Alexandre Chao Viso
Y4EL Core Team and WY4CJ Campaigner
Thomas Csillag Finger
SESA Latin America ambassador
Léa Weimann
Co-lead Y4EL
Niccolo’ Delporto
Moderator, Y4EL Core Team