It’s that official!
The International Court of Justice has concluded that States have a legal obligation to limit global warming to 1.5oC.
This follows months of deliberations, and public hearing of statements from States and International Organisations, including IUCN at the historic proceedings.
Dr Grethel Aguilar, IUCN Director General, said on Wednesday, “IUCN welcomes this important advisory opinion, which strengthens the global legal framework and reinforces the urgent imperative to limit warming to 1.5oC.”
IUCN’s contributions were coordinated by the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law and the process was led by Lead Counsel, and WCEL Chair, Prof Christina Voigt, who collaborated with a broad team of legal counsel and attended the formal reading of the Opinion in person at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
Prof Voigt said, “the highest judicial body of the UN has spoken — and it has spoken clearly: Every State has an obligation under international law to act with a high level of due diligence to prevent global warming from exceeding the 1.5oC threshold.”