December 13, 2024
SINGAPORE – Developed countries that have been polluting the atmosphere with planet-warming greenhouse gases for two centuries should take the lead in combating climate change, Singapore told the world’s top court on Dec 11.
The UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) is undertaking a landmark hearing to decide on countries’ legal obligations to address climate change, and the consequences for failing to prevent harm, especially to vulnerable nations.
The notion of historical responsibility underpinned earlier environmental treaties, even though it was not explicitly referenced in the Paris Agreement, the world’s current climate pact.
Addressing the court at The Hague in the Netherlands, Singapore’s Ambassador for International Law Rena Lee noted that some countries claim that historical responsibility was never the basis of the Paris Agreement and its parent treaty, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Other countries argue that climate responsibilities spelt out in treaties are now based on each nation’s current capabilities and specific national conditions, rather than historical emissions.
“Singapore disagrees,” Mrs Lee told the court on Dec 11. “In our view, historical responsibility was and remains an integral part of common but differentiated responsibilities.”
Common but differentiated responsibilities is a principle in the UNFCCC recognising that all countries have a duty to take climate action, but the types of action they take will depend on their differing national circumstances.
The ICJ has heard oral statements from numerous countries since Dec 2. It is expected to give an advisory opinion to the UN in 2025 after hearing from 98 countries. This will be non-binding.
The hearings follow a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in March 2023 in which the small island nation of Vanuatu asked the ICJ to clarify the climate obligations of countries. Singapore was among 18 nations that helped lead this initiative.
On Dec 11, Mrs Lee recounted Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan’s remarks at the adoption of the Paris Agreement in December 2015.
He had said: “The developed countries with historical responsibilities have to be seen to be fulfilling their prior commitments and to continue to take the lead… Developing countries also point out that the present is a function of the past and that the future is not a given.”
While a country keeps in mind its current capabilities to meet the climate problem and its national circumstances, it also needs to account for its cumulative historical greenhouse gas emissions, stressed Mrs Lee, who was previously ambassador for oceans and law of the sea issues.
These factors will influence how a country eventually reflects its highest possible ambition in its climate targets and how it pursues emission reduction, she said.
Countries are to submit their next rounds of climate targets to the UNFCCC by February 2025, and they are expected to meet those goals by 2035.
Mrs Lee touched on three other issues in her address to the ICJ.
First, she asked the court about the relationship between the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement, and other sources of international law in defining climate change obligations. Singapore posits that apart from the convention and the climate pact, the international community’s legal response must also include the obligations of countries to prevent significant transboundary harm to the environment. And this applies also to protecting the marine environment and human rights.
“In the context of a global crisis such as climate change, which has already caused and continues to cause serious harm to the environment and to human lives and livelihoods, it is simply untenable to exclude these obligations from applying to climate change,” said Mrs Lee.
On the first day of hearings, countries differed on whether their legal obligations extend beyond the UNFCCC, with Germany and Saudi Arabia contending that they had no obligations beyond the treaty, The Guardian reported.
Second, Mrs Lee said Singapore wants practical guidance on how environmental impact assessments (EIAs) on human activities should be done in the context of climate change.
The obligation to conduct EIAs should be linked to a country’s commitments under the Paris Agreement, she said.
This means that states must implement regulations to ensure that steps are taken to assess the greenhouse gas emissions of planned individual activities that have a potentially significant adverse impact on the environment.
Countries then decide whether to allow, prohibit or regulate such projects to ensure they stay on track to meet emissions-reducing targets they have committed to.
Third, Mrs Lee said Singapore maintains that countries are obligated to work together to protect human rights and the environment from the ill impacts of carbon emissions.
If a more climate-vulnerable country were to seek assistance in getting access to resources to reduce emissions, another well-equipped country should seriously consider these requests, she said. Help could come in the form of technology transfer or building capacity, for example.
Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, countries should also cooperate in preventing marine pollution from greenhouse gas emissions, said Mrs Lee, who will be nominated by Singapore for election as an ICJ judge in 2026.
Concluding her address to the ICJ, she said: “We are confident that the court’s advisory opinion will have a positive impact on the global effort to address climate change, including the ongoing processes within the UNFCCC framework.”
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