HAMBURG, Germany (CN) — An eclectic group of countries participating in a climate justice case before the world’s top maritime tribunal had their say on Wednesday, the first batch in a record-breaking number of states who want to weigh in on the historic legal ruling.
The Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law is asking the Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for an advisory opinion that clarifies what legal obligations countries have to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Forty other countries from around the world are also offering their opinions on how the court should rule.
Frustrated with what they saw as a lack of action following COP 26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, the nine members of the commission joined together to bring the request for an opinion from the international tribunal.
“The time has come to speak in legally binding obligations rather than empty promises,” Gaston Alfonso Browne, the prime minister of the Caribbean nation Antigua and Barbuda, told the 21-judge panel in his opening remarks on Monday.
Not every country that signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which established the tribunal in 1982, agrees.
“Development of new law is a political matter,” Saudi Arabia’s representative, Noorah Algethami, told the court. The world’s second-largest oil producer pushed the court to delay a ruling and hold a second round of hearings later.
The world’s largest oil producer — the United States — could not participate in the hearings as it has not signed the Law of the Sea Convention.
Countries were scheduled to appear based on logistics and scheduling concerns, not on their legal positions or geographic location. Germany, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Bangladesh spoke on Wednesday. Landlocked Bolivia was scheduled to appear but was unable to attend at the last minute.
None of the participating countries deny climate change is real or that it is caused by humans. Beyond that, though, they differ widely on what they want the judges to say.
Australia affirmed its commitment to combating climate change but argued the court couldn’t regulate carbon dioxide. The treaty “was clearly not drafted to regulate the release of greenhouse gasses,” Stephen Donaghue, the solicitor-general of Australia, told the court.
Germany, on the other hand, had nothing to say about how the judges should rule but voiced its support for advisory opinions in general.
“The request submitted by the COSIS will contribute to a further strengthening of the tribunal’s central and comprehensive role in matters concerning the international law of the sea,” said Tania Freiin von Uslar-Gleichen, legal advisor for Germany’s Foreign Affairs Office.
Von Uslar-Gleichen was slotted to open the hearing but the German delegation was stuck in traffic, forcing Australia to speak first.
Bangladesh, a country widely expected to face the worst ravages of climate change, expressed strong support for an opinion holding countries accountable for their pollution. “The time has come for this tribunal to set a historic precedent," said Bangladesh’s representative, Khurshed Alam.
In total, 31 countries have submitted written statements and 33 will make oral statements. Some countries have opted for both. Altogether, 40 different countries ranging from China to France to Rwanda are participating.
The court will also consider arguments from nine intergovernmental organizations, from the European Union to the United Nations. Ten advocacy groups have also sent written arguments that are not part of the case file but can be considered by the judges.
The climate change request is only the third request for an advisory opinion the tribunal has had in its 40-year history. It’s also the first request to come from a country — the two previous requests were brought by intergovernmental organizations.
In 2010, the International Seabed Authority, another body created by the UN treaty, asked the court to clarify the regulations around deep seabed mining. Two years later, a regional African fishing watchdog, the Sub-regional Fisheries Commission, asked judges to weigh in on conservation rules.
Both of those requests got interest from other parties to the treaty — any of which can submit arguments in advisory opinion proceedings — but nowhere near the record-breaking 40 countries who are participating in the climate change case.
The court will hear from the remaining countries over the next 10 days. A ruling is expected sometime next year.
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