Exactly one year ago, the International Court of Justice,
the world’s highest court, delivered its landmark
Advisory Opinion on climate change – a historic milestone
that reshaped the global conversation on climate justice.
This achievement was a victory for international law and
also a testament to the transformative power of Pacific
leadership, in particular of its youth. What began as an
idea championed by twenty seven Pacific law students grew
into a global movement because young people have worked hand
in hand with governments, civil society organisations,
stakeholders and countless allies who believed that climate
justice could be pursued through international law.
Together, they demonstrated that when youth are meaningfully
engaged as partners in decision making, they can help drive
change at the highest levels of global
governance.
The
journey to The Hague was long-fought and it was Pacific-led
from the very beginning. The question posed by the young law
students – could the world’s highest court rule on
climate obligations? – essentially turned into more than
just a student-led initiative. It became a Pacific-wide
movement and was later carried forward by Vanuatu and other
Pacific nations who championed the call for an advisory
opinion at the United Nations General Assembly and staunchly
stood behind it until it reached the doors of the
International Court of Justice at The Hague.
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Since the
landmark climate ruling, the Pacific has continued to lead
the way, this time, to call for the Advisory Opinion’s
implementation. In the last year alone, the Advisory Opinion
has been cited in court cases around the world and used as
legal grounds to increase pressure on fossil fuel companies,
drilling companies, and more. It is an authoritative
confirmation that states have legally binding obligations to
prevent further climate harm and to protect our shared
climate system. The obligations outlined in the Opinion are
not aspirational goals, they are grounded in firm existing
commitments and law and are backed by extensive technical
and scientific evidence. The Opinion goes beyond confirming
States’ legal obligations, it also affirms that breaches
carry real legal consequences and reparations, meaning
states that fail to act can be held legally accountable for
their inaction to protect the climate. The Opinion also
affirms that 1.5°C is the legally recognised temperature
limit that states must act to uphold.
“The ICJ used
scientific findings which were very clear that climate
change is dangerous, that there is not much time left, and
there’s all these irreversible harms that have already
occurred,” said Alofipo So’oalo Fleur Ramsay,
International Indigenous and Human Rights Lawyer,
at PISFCC’s Webinar to celebrate the one year anniversary
of the Advisory Opinion. “We need the most progressive
interpretation of this ruling — and of the climate
litigation still ahead — so the Advisory Opinion is not
undermined.”
In
May 2026, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a
follow-up resolution to operationalise the Advisory Opinion
– once again, spearheaded by Vanuatu and Pacific partners.
With the resolution in place, we now look ahead to transform
climate law into real, tangible action.
“The Advisory
Opinion was about unity, not individual agendas. It was
about a collective. It proved that when a movement is
anchored in unity, humility, and peace, and shared survival,
no tide could turn it back” said Shiva Gounden, Head
of Pacific at Greenpeace Australia Pacific. “The
Court affirmed what frontline communities had been pushing
for, that the destruction of our climate is not just a
natural tragedy, it is a profound and actionable injustice.
The law and the science are finally standing on the same
ground…and the landslide vote for the UNGA resolution
shows political will is finally catching up.”
“One
year on, the Advisory Opinion is not just any ordinary
document, it is a living instrument that has the power to
protect our climate for us now, and for the generations to
come.” said Vishal Prasad, Director at Pacific
Islands Students Fighting Climate Change. “Our
journey started far in a small classroom at the University
of the South Pacific. Since those moments, we have watched
this movement for climate justice evolve and take steps into
the International Court of Justice, into courtrooms around
the world, to negotiating spaces, and to communities all
over. Opportunities like these are all thanks to law
finally catching up to science and to the lived
realities of our people and the work of all our friends and
allies who continue to stand beside us. Our work now is to
make sure we keep up the momentum and start
implementing.”
While we celebrate the Advisory’s
Opinion first anniversary, we understand that states’
legal obligations do not expire with the anniversary of the
ruling and that with every new year, obligations must
sharpen with greater action and accountability.
“The
Advisory Opinion is now an overlay on how the line is held
— on science, on ambition, on 1.5°C. When Pacific Islands
and our allies show up now, they show up with a different
kind of strength behind them,” said Dr. Sindra
Sharma, International Policy Lead at
PICAN.
“There is no exit ramp. A state cannot
negotiate its way out of a legal obligation by weakening a
COP text,” added Dr. Sivendra Michael, Permanent
Secretary for Fiji’s Ministry of Environment and Climate
Change. “Our message is [simple: move from ambition
to implementation, not language that lets you evade
responsibility.] The Pacific will not accept another decade
of [climate inaction.]”
PISFCC, alongside Pacific
youth from all over, civil society organisations, and
partners, will continue to utilise the Advisory Opinion as
it was intended, as a tool for accountability not just in
courtrooms but at the UNFCCC, at negotiating spaces and
convenings, and in every space where the future of the
Pacific and the planet is being decided. The voyage that
started with the twenty-seven young law students from the
University of the South Pacific continues to traverse our
vast oceans, carrying with it a movement that has not and
will never slow down.
About
PISFCC
The Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate
Change (PISFCC) is a youth-led organisation established in
2019 by 27 law students at the University of the South
Pacific. Confronted by the inadequacy of political action on
a crisis that threatens the existence of our nations, we
launched a campaign to seek an Advisory Opinion from the
International Court of Justice on States’ obligations in
respect of climate change.
That campaign persuaded the
Government of Vanuatu to lead it, built a cross-regional
coalition of States, and secured a UN General Assembly
resolution by consensus in March 2023 requesting the
Opinion. On 23 July 2025, the Court delivered a robust and
comprehensive ruling on climate change – unanimously. In May
2026, the General Assembly endorsed it by 141 votes to 8.
PISFCC is the organisation that started this, and it has
stayed with it at every stage: the written and oral
proceedings, the mobilisation around delivery, and now leads
the campaign to operationalise the Advisory Opinion to
realise climate justice for Pacific peoples.
Pacific
Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC) is a
Pacific youth-led climate justice organisation born from a
classroom of law students at the University of the South
Pacific and later moving into spaces such as The Hague, The
United Nations, COPs, and more. PISFCC continues to champion
Pacific youth leadership in international climate governance
and looks to achieve a climate-just future for all by
working
to.
