The UN's highest court will decide Wednesday on the climate obligations of countries

The Washington Post · last updated July 22, 2025 – 8:21 PM

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The UN’s highest court is handing down a historic opinion on climate change Wednesday, a decision that could set a legal benchmark for action around the globe to the climate crisis .

After years of lobbying by vulnerable island nations who fear they could disappear under rising sea waters , the U.N. General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice in 2023 for an advisory opinion, a non-binding but important basis for international obligations.

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