International Court of Justice Implies The UK Caused ‘Climate Change’
Britain could be liable for ‘climate change’ “reparations” running into the trillions of pounds, after the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion that countries have binding legal duties to prevent climate ‘harm’ – duties going well beyond the Paris Agreement – and can be sued for compensation if they fail
The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion asserts that the UK is subject to many further ‘climate change’ obligations – obligations which the UK has never accepted and should firmly reject.
Despite this, the UK chose to vote to endorse the advisory opinion at the UN General Assembly this May, directly against its own national interests.
With Forewords by Rt Hon Lord Burnett of Maldon KG, Rt Hon Lord Sumption OBE, Hon Alexander Downer AC, Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind KCMG KC and Lord Verdirame KC, the report, written by three leading legal academics, warns the ruling could also be used by activist litigants to:
- Block new North Sea oil and gas licences — the Court explicitly found that granting ‘fossil fuel’ licences, or even failing to shut down existing production, “may constitute an internationally wrongful act”.
- Open the floodgates to compensation claims against Britain specifically for being the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.
- Trigger a wave of lawsuits in international courts and tribunals against the UK, modelled on the Chagos Islands case — where the Government controversially proposed to surrender sovereign territory to Mauritius after a non-binding ICJ opinion was wrongly treated as though it were legally binding.
The Report recommends:
The report can be seen here policyexchange.org.uk
This suggests countries could try and get billions in ‘compensation’ from the UK, because Britain was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, and it seems in the minds of the ICJ, Britain caused ‘climate change’.
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Header image: Nairametrics