Time and Temporality before the ICJ in the Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change – EJIL: Talk! – Go Health Pro

Time and Temporality before the ICJ in the Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change – EJIL: Talk! – Go Health Pro

The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change is one of a string of recent cases which has brought the ICJ to the centre of public discussions of international law (see coverage of proceedings on the BBC, the Guardian, and Forbes), and academic commentators have already noted the significance of the case for procedural rules on the participation of small island developing states and amicus curiae from NGOs, the establishing of obligations erga omnes, and the Court’s use of experts fantômes. In this short post, I want to focus on a different aspect of the Advisory Opinion: namely, its temporal significance, as a decision over when climate change began, how it manifests in our present, and how it will develop in the future.

Time may seem a marginal issue for understanding climate change. Yet across the submissions of the 96 states and 11 international organisations participating in the case, different histories, presents, and future expectations are again and again put before the ICJ to guide its decision. For some states, climate change has a long history, its origins stretching back decades to the emergence of scientific consensus on climate change in the 1960s, or even further back to colonial possession of natural resources and the Industrial Revolution (see, for example, Kenya’s submissions that carbon dioxide emissions should be measured from 1850). This creates a differentiated present: while some states have historically made the largest contributions to climate change, it is others that have been forced to bare its brunt. Accordingly, the history of climate change alters expectations about its future regulation. With the pollution of some states already threatening the existence of others, the ICJ must recognise legal obligations between these states which can halt and rectify the existing damage caused by climate change and restore the right of those states to self-determination over their future (see, among many passing citations by other states, the detailed submissions on self-determination by the Melanesian Spearhead Group, the Republic of Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Liechtenstein, Micronesia, Namibia, Nauru, Palau, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, and Tuvalu).

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DRC and the legacies of colonialism in Belgium – Go Health Pro

DRC and the legacies of colonialism in Belgium – Go Health Pro

The Democratic Republic of the Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960. Yet as Georgi Verbeeck explains, debates about Belgium’s colonial past remain far from over. Belgium, like its neighbouring countries, has rediscovered its colonial past. While for a long time there was a certain tendency towards nostalgia and at least a repression of the … Read more

YouTube turns 20 years old. Did you know it was originally a dating website? – Go Health Pro

YouTube turns 20 years old. Did you know it was originally a dating website? – Go Health Pro

It’s February 14, 2025. You know what that means? Yes, Happy Valentine’s Day, but there’s also something else worth remembering today. YouTube has officially turned 20 years old. That’s right, the internet’s biggest video platform as well as one of the most trafficked websites in the world, was founded on Feb. 14, 2005.  At least, … Read more

China’s construction of coal-fired power plants reaches highest in a decade – Go Health Pro

China’s construction of coal-fired power plants reaches highest in a decade – Go Health Pro

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. China’s coal plant construction surged last year to the highest level in almost a decade, conflicting with President Xi Jinping’s promise that carbon emissions would peak before 2030, researchers have said. In a report released … Read more

Reddit plans to lock some content behind a paywall this year, CEO says – Go Health Pro

Reddit plans to lock some content behind a paywall this year, CEO says – Go Health Pro

Reddit is planning to introduce a paywall this year, CEO Steve Huffman said during a videotaped Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Thursday. Huffman previously showed interest in potentially introducing a new type of subreddit with “exclusive content or private areas” that Reddit users would pay to access. When asked this week about plans for … Read more

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