{"id":60087544,"date":"2025-06-27T09:15:59","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T08:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?p=60087544"},"modified":"2025-07-10T14:31:52","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T13:31:52","slug":"qa-making-a-case-for-vanuatus-survival-in-the-highest-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-making-a-case-for-vanuatus-survival-in-the-highest-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: Making a case for Vanuatu\u2019s survival in the highest court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Arnold Kiel Loughman grew up on Tanna, the southern island of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean. Now, Loughman is the attorney general of his country, where he witnesses the devastation of frequent extreme weather events: land lost to the sea, dying corals and farmlands washed away by heavy rains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While many larger nations ploddingly weigh emission cuts against development, small island states like Loughman\u2019s have no choice but to deal with a crisis they did not create. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For them, it\u2019s a matter of survival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December, Loughman stood<\/a> at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, the Netherlands \u2013 the world\u2019s highest court \u2013 to argue that high-emission states should be held accountable under international law. He was there for hearings designed to clarify the obligations of the states responsible for climate change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow can the conduct that has taken humanity to the brink of catastrophe, threatening the survival of entire peoples, be lawful and without consequences?\u201d Loughman asked during the opening arguments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"large<\/div>
Cyclones have become more frequent and severe in Vanuatu (Image: Sami Sarkis Travel \/ Alamy)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dialogue Earth spoke with Loughman ahead of the ICJ\u2019s delivery of its advisory opinion on the case, which he expects in July. We discussed what it could mean for climate change and his people\u2019s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our conversation has been edited for clarity and length.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dialogue Earth: When did climate change come to be something you needed to know about as a lawyer?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Loughman: I\u2019m not a scientist. I\u2019m a lawyer, and I do litigation in domestic courts. Climate change never came to me until I was appointed as the attorney general. I\u2019ve been the attorney general for the past nine years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the resolution was passed at the UN General Assembly in 2023, the case arrived at my office, and that\u2019s when I got involved in it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vanuatu\u2019s role in international climate litigation<\/strong><\/span>
\n

In 2021, Vanuatu, a Pacific Islands state of 320,000 people, began seeking<\/a> an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice in The Hague on the obligations of states responsible for climate change. It also aimed to clarify the legal consequences of the obligations, which provide footings for future litigations on loss and damage caused by climate change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As support for the campaign grew, Vanuatu presented it to the UN General Assembly (UNGA). The resulting resolution<\/a>, adopted by consensus in 2023, led to International Court of Justice hearings in December 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vanuatu is also a part of the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (Cosis<\/a>), which in 2022 sought an advisory opinion<\/a> from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos<\/a>). Itlos ruled that greenhouse gas emissions are marine pollution, and countries are legally responsible for controlling them.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Do you personally feel the impact of climate change?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Oh yes. I grew up on an island. My village is on the coast, and I see it. Sometimes you take your kids down to the ocean, to the beach, and you tell them: \u201cOh, look, we used to stand there.\u201d It brings a feeling of nostalgia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Arnold<\/div>
Loughman at 2025 UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France (Image: Regina Lam \/ Dialogue Earth)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I remember as a little boy growing up fishing and diving for fish. But now, the fish are not there anymore. The corals are not alive, and therefore the fish are not there. These are things from the past. You can only talk about them to your kids. They can\u2019t experience what you experienced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change impacts also happen on land. We have cyclones becoming much more frequent and severe. The hurricanes come with very heavy rains, which cause flooding and wash away all the farmlands. My island, Tanna, is a volcanic island, and its soil is very fertile. But the food production is no longer what it used to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What will you do after the ICJ provides its advisory opinion? How might you use the result to improve the situation?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The ICJ decision will be non-binding. There is no mechanism to enforce it. It\u2019s always asked: \u201cWhat good is it when it\u2019s non-binding and there is no mechanism to enforce it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s true. But when it\u2019s coming from the highest court, the judicial arm of the United Nations, you simply can\u2019t ignore it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re hoping that the ICJ will clarify what the states\u2019 obligations are and what the consequences will be if the states are in breach of them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hope the clarification will become part of international law, instead of being some general statement that we find in the Paris Agreement or UNFCCC [UN Framework Convention on Climate Change], where states can make pledges and then go, and nothing comes out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could you start taking high emitters to court?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you talk about litigation, you start talking about compensation, loss and damage. Compensation can never put you back to your original state, but it can help you adapt to the changing environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>
Recommended<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>
Recommended<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n

Unlike contentious cases between states, the advisory opinions of the ICJ and Itlos<\/a> [the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea] are non-contentious cases, where states, NGOs, civil societies submit their views of the obligations of states to protect the marine environment or the climate system.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when you talk about litigation against corporate entities or states … that\u2019s a whole different game. It\u2019s a decision for the government. When you\u2019re taking on high corporate entities, big emitters, you have to be conscious of legal obligation, ramifications and implications \u2013 such as financial and diplomatic implications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are still waiting for the ICJ decision, and I am not aware of any litigation plans now. That will be the political decision made by the government. I\u2019m not a politician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does the United States’ current position on climate change alter things? They pulled back from the Paris Agreement and do not seem interested in multilateralism.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For some people, it is a worry. But it was not a surprise to us. When the UN General Assembly voted<\/a> on the resolution for seeking the advisory opinion on states\u2019 obligations to combat climate change, the US abstained from it. So, with that, it wasn\u2019t surprising. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That doesn\u2019t hinder us from doing what we want to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How easy has it been for a country like Vanuatu to engage in the processes of the ICJ?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This has been one of the cases that has propelled Vanuatu out there in the international arena. It has given us and other small Pacific states the opportunity to engage in the ICJ, to contribute to the development of international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh yes. I grew up on an island. My village is on the coast, and I see it. <\/blockquote><\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As small island developing states, when we go to sit at the table for negotiation, we have no leverage. It is especially the case when you negotiate with big superpowers: the US, China and the EU.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But international law through the ICJ is probably the best way a small island state like Vanuatu can speak, and everybody listens.\u00a0It gives you a platform.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time, as far as I was aware, the Pacific small island developing states were in The Hague. We were all there together, making submissions. It\u2019s never happened before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you positive about the chances of real action being taken, about climate change being combated, or does it feel a bit depressing from the perspective of Vanuatu?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We have to be optimistic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am hopeful that we will get something concrete out of it, given the decision of Itlos. When you look at the ICJ\u2019s case, for the first time, more than 130 states<\/a> supported Vanuatu\u2019s initiative to seek an opinion on climate change obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hopefully, when we get a strong decision in our favour, we can then begin to see some real changes, instead of just rhetoric.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Historical emitters should face legal consequences, argues the country’s attorney general Arnold Kiel Loughman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3906,"featured_media":60087556,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[761,50039901],"tags":[519,543,560,50041537],"hashtags":[],"country":[50040705],"class_list":["post-60087544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","category-ocean","tag-climate-impacts","tag-extreme-weather","tag-law","tag-loss-and-damage","country-vanuatu"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nQ&A: Making a case for Vanuatu\u2019s survival in the highest court | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Historical emitters should face legal consequences, argues the country's attorney general Arnold Kiel Loughman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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