25/07/2025
Anticipation. Relief. Joy.
In a landmark decision, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that states have binding legal obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, uphold the rights of present and future generations to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, and provide reparations for climate harm. 🌏🔥
This is the most consequential ruling in the ICJ’s 80-year history—and a historic win for climate-vulnerable nations and Indigenous frontline communities around the world.
Chamoru human rights attorney and his firm, —the only Pacific-based international human rights law firm—represented the Republic of Vanuatu and Pacific communities throughout the case. Their legal team played a central role in securing this unprecedented ruling, which recognizes climate change as an “urgent and existential threat” and names climate inaction as an “internationally wrongful act.”
“A new era of climate accountability is upon us,” said Aguon. “This moment affirms with absolute clarity that the law supports climate justice. We move from moral appeal to legal obligation.”
The case—brought forward by Vanuatu and backed by 130+ nations—was sparked by Pacific Island students and built entirely by a grassroots, Indigenous-led coalition. BOL’s approach blended legal strategy with testimony, cultural protocol, and ancestral knowledge—recasting the Court as a space where Indigenous worldviews lead the way forward.
This ruling opens new global pathways for reparations and justice. It’s more than a legal win—it’s a victory for Indigenous leadership and a turning point in the climate justice movement.
Nihi Indigenous Media was on the ground at The Hague to document this historic moment. Our in-progress documentary will center the Indigenous Pacific attorneys, advocates, and island communities whose stories and persistence championed this case to the world stage.
🌀 With gratitude to and for enabling our presence at this pivotal moment, and to for their support.
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