Taking Climate Change to the World Court

摘要

Pressure is growing to take a question about climate change to the International Court of Justice (ICJ)—the World Court—in The Hague. A decision, though not binding, could exertpowerful influence on many national courts that could issue binding orders.The past year has seen a rise in wildfires, heat waves, extreme precipitation, and flooding in many parts of the world. Scientists widely agree that climate change has made extremeweather events more frequent and intense.After a brief downturn due to the pandemic, global greenhouse gas emissions have continued their upward rise. These physical conditions are adding to the global alarm over climatechange.