Click to expand Image Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu's minister for climate change, speaks outside the International Court of Justice ahead of an advisory opinion on what legal obligations nations have to address climate change, July 23, 2025, in The Hague, Netherlands. © 2025 AP Photo/Peter Dejong The world’s highest court has spoken: tackling climate change is not a choice: it’s a legal obligation. Now it’s up to the United Nations General Assembly to speak up and urge its 193 member countries to take action.Millions of people around the world have already lost their homes, livelihoods, and lives, due to climate change. It is vital states take action.In July 2025, the International Court of Justice delivered a unanimous landmark Advisory Opinion on states’ obligations under international law to address climate change. The Court ruled that states are legally required to protect the climate system, prevent transboundary harm, and regulate activities driving greenhouse gas emissions. The court also made clear that failing to act on climate change can violate human rights, including the rights to life, health, food, water, housing, and culture.Human Rights Watch has documented how fossil fuel production harms communities around the world, particularly those living near its infrastructure. The court’s opinion makes explicit that governments have existing legal duties to address those harms.Vanuatu, alongside a cross-regional group of countries, has circulated a draft UN General Assembly resolution to motivate member countries to transform the court’s findings into action. In practice, this means urging states to adopt stronger national climate plans, phaseout fossil fuels, and better protect communities displaced by climate change. It also proposes mechanisms to document and track the losses communities are already suffering.The General Assembly has a history of translating advisory opinions into resolutions that demand action by governments. The US, backed by oil-producing states in the Gulf amongst others, has urged Vanuatu to withdraw the resolution. But the Pacific island state, which is itself threatened by rising sea levels, has refused. Vanuatu and its partners have worked hard to accommodate a range of concerns by different countries, including from the European Union which has pushed back on a more expansive interpretation of the advisory opinion. Human Rights Watch and its partners are urging governments to engage constructively in the ongoing consultations and vote in favor of the resolution. It’s imperative they resist efforts to water down its core elements, especially those protecting human rights, international law, and advancing international cooperation on climate change.