CLIMATE JUSTICE PROMISES TO KEEP

Last month, a tiny island nation in the Pacific Ocean took a giant step for mankind.

Vanuatu, an archipelago of islands, like many other countries in the Indo-Pacific such as Fiji, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Madagascar, is vulnerable to the ravages of extreme climate changes. The rising sea levels triggered by global environmental pollution and rising temperatures might make some islands vanish altogether.

Vanuatu proposed a climate justice resolution, cosponsored by 120 countries excluding the US which was adopted by the UN General Assembly by consensus.

The resolution would allow climate-threatened countries or activist groups to secure an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the obligation of various nations about mitigating the climate crisis under the 2015 Paris Climate Accord.

Although ICJ's advisory opinion would be non-binding, it would highlight the accountability of polluting nations and energize climate activist organizations for further global actions including litigations in domestic courts.

Just consider the confusing and contradictory policies of the Biden administration, which is vociferously committed to environmental protection and increased production of clean energy. Its landmark achievement, the Inflation Reduction Act is clearly focused on climate change, which the US Environmental Protection Agency touted as "the most significant climate legislation in U.S. history, offering funding, programs, and incentives to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy and will likely drive the significant deployment of new clean electricity resources."