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- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
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- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
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- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
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Top UN court to hold climate justice hearings in December
The highest UN court on Friday announced hearings over a key climate justice case outlining countries' obligations regarding global warming and legal consequences for failing to address the climate emergency.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said it would start the hearings on December 2, as it weighs a so-called advisory opinion on global climate change.
In March 2023, the UN asked the ICJ to clarify "legal consequences" for states that "have caused significant harm to the climate system and other parts of the environment".
It specifically asks the court to weigh obligations to "small island developing States", which are "particularly vulnerable" to climate change, as well as obligations to future generations.
Vanuatu, a small archipelago whose future is threatened by rising sea levels, had been pushing for this resolution for years.
Although ICJ opinions are not binding, they carry significant legal and moral weight, and are often taken into account by national courts.
Vanuatu and its supporters hope the ICJ opinion, which will take months if not years to formulate, will encourage governments to accelerate actions to halt climate change.
China and the United States, the world's two largest emitters, were not co-sponsors of the UN request to the ICJ. US representative Nicholas Hill said at the time he preferred diplomacy to a "judicial procedure".
"We have serious concerns that this process could complicate our collective efforts and will not bring us closer to achieving these shared goals," said Hill.
The ICJ hearing will be another high-profile event in a growing effort to enshrine climate justice in international law.
In what was hailed a "historic" judgement in May, the UN maritime court ruled in favour of nine small island states seeking to increase protection of the world's oceans.
Polluting countries had a "specific obligation to take all measures necessary to ensure that... emissions under their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage by pollution to other states and their environment", that court said.
However, the ICJ ruling is not likely to happen immediately -- the time limit for filing written observations has already been extended several times since April 2023, when the court fixed an initial six-month deadline.
In total, 91 written statements on the subject have been filed with the court, it said.
A.Rodriguezv--AMWN