{"id":211239,"date":"2026-05-20T23:34:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T23:34:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/general-assembly-backs-historic-world-court-climate-crisis-ruling-un-news\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T23:34:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T23:34:55","slug":"general-assembly-backs-historic-world-court-climate-crisis-ruling-un-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/general-assembly-backs-historic-world-court-climate-crisis-ruling-un-news\/","title":{"rendered":"General Assembly backs historic World Court climate crisis ruling – UN News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Facebook<\/a> Twitter<\/a> Print<\/a> Email<\/a>
A landmark General Assembly resolution adopted on Wednesday is \u201ca powerful affirmation\u201d of international law, climate justice and science, according to UN chief Ant\u00f3nio Guterres.<\/span>
The Secretary-General said <\/a>it makes clear Member States\u2019 responsibility to protect their own people from what is an \u201cescalating climate crisis\u201d.
The resolution drawn up by Vanuatu – a Pacific island nation on the frontline of the climate crisis, and several other countries – was adopted after intense discussion including multiple proposed amendments with 141 votes in favour, eight against and 28 abstentions<\/strong>.
Those voting against were Belarus, Iran, Israel, Liberia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the US and Yemen.
When the International Court of Justice<\/a> (ICJ<\/a>), the UN\u2019s principal judicial body, ruled in July 2025 that States have an obligation to protect the environment from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the decision was hailed as a breakthrough. The UN chief described it simply as \u201ca victory for our planet\u201d. 
The Court also ruled that if States breach these obligations, they are legally responsible and may be legally required to stop the wrongful conduct, offer guarantees that it won\u2019t happen again, and make full reparation, depending on the circumstances<\/strong>.
Although the ICJ\u2019s advisory opinions are not binding<\/strong>, they carry significant legal and moral authority \u2013 helping to clarify and develop international law by defining States\u2019 legal obligations.
Wednesday\u2019s General Assembly adoption following up on the ruling, sends a strong message that tackling the climate crisis is a legal duty under international law, and not just a political choice. \u201cThe world\u2019s highest court has spoken,\u201d responded Mr. Guterres. \u201cToday, the General Assembly has answered.\u201d<\/strong>
The resolution calls on all UN Member States to take all possible steps to avoid causing significant damage to the climate and environment, including emissions produced within their borders, and to follow through on their existing climate pledges under the Paris Agreement<\/a>.
Governments are urged to cooperate in good faith and continuously coordinate efforts to tackle climate change globally and ensure that climate policies safeguard the rights to life, health, and an adequate standard of living. 
In a statement released after the General Assembly vote, Mr. Guterres declared that those least responsible for climate change are paying the highest price, and that the path to climate justice \u201cruns through a rapid, just, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy.\u201d<\/strong>
The UN Secretary-General noted that renewables have proved to be the cheapest and most secure form of energy and that the goal of keeping global temperature rises to no more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels is still within reach.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, issued its advisory opinion on the obligations of States in respect of climate change, read out by the President of the Court, Judge Iwasawa Yuji, on Wednesday. 
Facebook<\/a> Twitter<\/a> Print<\/a> Email<\/a> <\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Facebook Twitter Print Email A landmark General Assembly resolution adopted on Wednesday is \u201ca powerful affirmation\u201d of international law, climate justice and science, according to UN chief Ant\u00f3nio Guterres.The Secretary-General said it makes clear Member States\u2019 responsibility to protect their own people from what is an \u201cescalating climate crisis\u201d.The resolution drawn up by Vanuatu – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":211240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-211239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}