The UN General Assembly has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for advice on the obligations of States to prevent and address climate change. But do we know who contributed what to climate change?
Climate change is overwhelmingly caused by the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from human activities. Our briefing note, “Attribution of observed global warming to countries“, argues that existing data and understanding are sufficient to make a sound estimation of each country’s contribution to climate change. For this reason, lack of data should not be a hindering factor in decisions around legal obligations.
The briefing note is based on previous research, led by Matt Jones from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia (UEA), that helped determine national contributions to climate change due to historical emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O).
The latest independent expert report from Professor Corinne Le Quéré, Royal Society Research Professor of Climate Change Science at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and member of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, was produced at the request of the counsel for the Republic of Vanuatu.
It forms part of their written statement to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to inform the Court’s Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change (PDF), requested by the UN General Assembly.
This is the first time that the UN has adopted such a request by consensus, and the first time that the ICJ will take a position on climate change. The landmark case by the Court seeks a non-binding advisory opinion on the obligations of States to prevent and address climate change. The Court is expected to give its opinion in 2025.
