In its Climate Change Advisory Opinion, the International Court of Justice held that certain climate-related obligations of States under customary international law and climate change treaties are erga omnes (partes). One important consequence – as the Court explicitly confirmed – is that States can invoke each other’s responsibility for breaching those climate obligations. As Paddeu and…

In July 2025, the International Court of Justice issued its landmark advisory opinion on climate change that is ground-breaking in many respects. Among them is the Court’s affirmation that environmental protection is a condition for the enjoyment of human rights and its recognition of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment (for simplicity, “right to a…