Sea-Level Rise Reaches The Hague - Findings in Relation to the Law of the Sea in the ICJ’s Climate Change Advisory Opinion

Sea-Level Rise Reaches The Hague - Findings in Relation to the Law of the Sea in the ICJ’s Climate Change Advisory Opinion De Spiegeleir, Antoine Author aut Rocha, Armando Author aut Text xx# 2025 Verfassungsblog 2025-08-04 eng The advisory opinion rendered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 23 July 2025 marks a pivotal moment in the articulation of States’ obligations concerning climate change. While based on broader rules and principles of international law, the opinion foregrounded the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as a key legal framework relevant to defining States’ climate obligations. As the ICJ itself stated, UNCLOS ‘forms part of the most directly relevant applicable law’ (para. 124). Thus, far from peripheral, the law of the sea emerged as a primary site for interpreting and enforcing States’ climate obligations under international law. CC BY-SA 4.0 De Spiegeleir, Antoine Advisory Opinion Climate Crisis ICJ International Court of Justice Internationaler Gerichtshof | Den Haag Klimakatastrophe Law of the Sea Small Islands climate change Internationaler Gerichtshof | Den Haag Klimakatastrophe 342 https://verfassungsblog.de/law-of-the-sea-in-the-icjs-climate-change-advisory-opinion/ Verfassungsblog 2366-7044 Max Steinbeis Verfassungsblog gGmbH 10.59704/ca99ffd63031501e 250804 10.59704/ca99ffd63031501e Converted from MARCXML to MODS version 3.7 using MARC21slim2MODS3-7.xsl (Revision 1.140 20200717)