(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Let Them Sink! US Abstains in Vote For Climate Justice For Most Vulnerable [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-03-31 x 🎉 BREAKING🎉 The UN just unanimously passed a resolution calling for an advisory opinion from the highest court in the world on climate change and human rights. pic.twitter.com/PZihmbwHIg — Greenpeace International (@Greenpeace) March 29, 2023 When the UN General Assembly resolved Wednesday to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to protect human rights by holding countries accountable for their role in climate change, it was not the first time the ICJ has been approached to address the issue. In 2011, the Marshall Islands and Palau were unsuccessful in seeking an appeal to the ICJ. This week, the small island of Vanuatu succeeded 12 years later. The United States did not support Wednesday’s resolution at UNGA. There have been significant developments since 2011 which makes this appeal more likely to be approved. Not only were extreme weather events, record-high temperatures, sea level rise, and flooding not as rampant then as they are today, but the science was not as dire. 196 parties had not signed on to the 2016 Paris Agreement to submit nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and update them every five years. Just last week the IPCC AR6 Synthesis report issued a final warning to the world about the rapidly closing window to address the crisis and keep temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the 2020s. At the time of the 2011 case, the 4th IPCC Assessment report called for limiting temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius. According to Michael Gerrard, a climate law professor at Columbia University, who advised the 2011 attempt, “The ICJ has already confirmed that customary international law obliges States to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction and control respect the environment of other States.” “Similarly, Article 194(2) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides that States shall take all measures necessary to ensure that activities under their jurisdiction or control do not spread and do not cause damage by pollution to other States. It is time we determine what the international rule of law means in the context of climate change.” (See www.cambridge.org/...) UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that global heating “can only be overcome through cooperation – between peoples, cultures, nations, generations. But festering climate injustice feeds divisions and threatens to paralyze global climate action.” Vanuatu’s ambassador to the UN Odo Tevi said the resolution before the ICJ “touches on the fundamental issue … about protecting the present and future generations.” The ICJ nonbinding ruling, Gerrard said, would be "the most authoritative statement in international law on the topics of climate change and human rights." Climate Shorts Economists Would Like a Word This week, a high-profile World Bank report warned that the global economy is expected to slow to a pace we haven’t seen in 30 years. The reasons are varied, as my colleague Alan Rappeport reported. The pandemic, the war in Ukraine and longer-term issues like weaker cross-border trade. But economists are worried that one factor slowing things down, now relatively small, may weigh more heavily in the future. You guessed it: climate change. There's a second outbreak of Marburg virus in Africa. Climate change could be a factor A second country in Africa has recently reported cases of Marburg, an infectious disease that has high fatality rates and, according to the World Health Organization, epidemic potential. The news has lent urgency to ongoing efforts to develop a vaccine for Marburg — and concern among public health officials that earth's changing climate could be fueling the outbreaks. The first outbreak this year was reported in February in Equatorial Guinea, but WHO was concerned the country was undercounting those cases. On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Equatorial Guinea had confirmed a total of 13 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. The case count update came the same day as WHO, whose staff on the ground suspected more cases, asked Equatorial Guinea to be transparent about how many cases the country had. Equatorial Guinea has also reported 20 probable cases, all of whom have died. Small island nations 'canaries in the mine' for climate change, says Barbados climate envoy Avinash Persaud, climate envoy for Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, speaks with Christiane Amanpour about the climate crisis and their pioneering "Bridgetown Initiative". Katharine Kayhoe FAQ provides tips on talking about the climate crisis. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/31/2161334/-More-on-UNGA-Climate-Resolution-US-Not-On-Board Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/