EXPLAINED | UNGA adopts landmark resolution on climate justice. What does it mean?

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A little more than a week after United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a damning report, suggesting that time for saving the planet was running out, the global body has adopted a trailblazing resolution — one that sets accountability for the biggest polluters of the world for failing to tackle the climate emergency.

On Wednesday (March 29), the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the resolution under which an opinion would be sought from UN highest court i.e. the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding legal obligations that nations are under to protect climate systems and people affected by it.

The UN now has the power to bring ICJ into the fold and battle the injustices. Additionally, ICJ can help shape international laws and bring international legal instruments, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child —which, incidentally,have the power and force of law for countries that have ratified them.

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Vanuatu brought the proposal

The proposal was put forth by the small pacific island nation of Vanuatu. Comprising of 80 islands and measuring only 1300 kilometres across, the archipelago's future looks bleak due to rising sea levels, primarily due to the apathy of the big countries. The country was recentlyhit bytwo Category 4 cyclones within three days.

After passing the resolution, Vanuatu's Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau looked elated and said it was a ‘win of epic proportions for climate justice’.

"Today’s historic resolution is the beginning of a new era in multilateral climate cooperation, one that is more fully focused on upholding the rule of international law and an era that places human rights and intergenerational equity at the forefront of climate decision-making," said Kalsakau.

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also chimed in with a response and said the ICJ's influence might encourage the nations to 'take bolder and stronger climate action' steps to protect the world.

“The climate crisis can only be overcome through cooperation – between peoples, cultures, nations, and generations. But festering climate injustice feeds divisions and threatens to paralyse global climate action,” said Guterres.

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Notably, such a proposal was brought earlier by a country named Palau. The microstate located in the western Pacific in 2011 announced it had plans to ask ICJ for an opinion on the responsibilities nations had regarding climate change. However, the UN never voted on the resolution.

Loss and damage fund

Facing an existential crisis, Vanuatu has been at forefront of pushing proposals that seek to address the issue of global climate change and its effect on vulnerable nations. More than 30 years ago in 1991, the archipelago proposed a 'loss and damage' fund to support poorer countries ravaged by the peril of climate change.

Fast forward to 2022, the proposal was finally passed at the COP27 summit in Egypt - overcoming decades of staunch resistance from rich nations.

“The fund is an essential part of building back trust after 30 years of failed acknowledgement of the need for finance specifically allocated to address loss and damage resulting from unmitigated emissions and inadequate adaptation support,” said Christopher Bartlett, Vanuatu's lead climate negotiator.

Apart from Vanuatu, Pakistan's climate minister Sherry Rehman passionately batted for the proposal. Rehman's country faced one of the deadliest floods in its history last year. In the lead-up to the COP27 summit, Rehman was one of the few voices that openly questioned the global north and demanded reparations.

“There is so much loss and damage with so little reparations to countries that contributed so little to the world’s carbon footprint that obviously the bargain made between the global north and global south is not working," said Rehman.

What does the IPCC report say about climate injustice?

The IPCC report published on March 21 also pointed toward climate injustice by stating, “Vulnerable communities who have historically contributed the least to current climate change are disproportionately affected."

According to the report, approximately 3.3-3.6 billion people are “highly vulnerable” to climate change while increasing weather and climate extreme events have exposed millions of people to acute food insecurity and reduced water security.

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For a long time, countries negatively affected by the actions of big countries raised their voices but to no avail. Last year, 17 member countries at the Pacific Islands Forum took a singular pledge and sent a message to big carbon-emitting countries that the lives of people in the Pacific region were on line.

The member states demanded that the largest emitters of CO2 (usually the developed nations), double their climate financing to the developing nations. While the financing part is yet to be clearly defined, the passing of the resolution on Wednesday ought to be a step in the right direction.

(With inputs from agencies)

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