MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The world's top court has begun hearing a landmark case this morning on the legal obligations linked to climate change. Pacific Island nations are leading the charge. Kristina Kukolja reports.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Please be seated. The sitting is open.
KRISTINA KUKOLJA: Vanuatu's special envoy on climate change, Ralph Regenvanu, was the first to address the International Court of Justice or ICJ in The Hague.
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RALPH REGENVANU: The outcome of these proceedings will reverberate across generations.
KUKOLJA: For two weeks, the Court will hear arguments from nearly 100 countries and organizations, from big polluters like the United States and China to the smallest of Pacific Island nations, among those most at risk from climate change.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: It is so decided.
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KUKOLJA: Vanuatu was behind a motion passed by the U.N. General Assembly last year, asking the ICJ to issue a legal opinion on states' obligations in tackling climate change and the consequences of failing to act. Ralph Regenvanu hopes the ICJ will declare that...
REGENVANU: Making cumulative greenhouse gas emissions that amount to significant harm to the climate system is, under international law, unlawful.
KUKOLJA: Vishal Prasad is from the advocacy group Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change.
VISHAL PRASAD: With this, we have a chance to really push countries that when you sit at the negotiation tables, you're not just looking at what you have to do under Paris, but you can then really leverage the power of the law to push for more ambitious action on climate change.
KUKOLJA: Though not legally binding, an advisory opinion would be expected to have implications for future climate litigation and claims for reparations. Swiss-based lawyer Sebastian Duyck is from the Center for International Environmental Law.
SEBASTIAN DUYCK: If communities have been harmed by the failure of other state to basically regulate their private actors, then those states have the duty to actually step in and repair and assist the countries that are suffering from the harms.
KUKOLJA: Vanuatu's Ralph Regenvanu says, Pacific Island nations can stand as equals with global superpowers before the ICJ.
REGENVANU: We are the countries that contribute virtually nothing to global heating and yet are facing the worst consequences. And yet, those countries that have contributed to the problem are not stepping up to take responsibility for what they've caused.
KUKOLJA: The ICJ is expected to issue a climate advisory opinion next year.
For NPR News, I'm Kristina Kukolja in Melbourne, Australia.
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