> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.possibilities.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Highest Court Speaks Out - URL: https://www.possibilities.news/icj-vanuatu-climate-ruling/ - Published: 2025-07-24T12:00:37.000Z - Updated: 2025-07-24T12:00:47.000Z - Description: The International Court of Justice just solidified what climate justice advocates need to take polluters to court. - Author: Yessenia Funes **This edition is available to all (except the paid exclusives). Support my work and upgrade to paid** [**here**](https://www.possibilities.news/#/portal/signup) **for as little as $5 a month.** --- **LISTENING:** *to a press briefing following the ICJ's ruling* **FEELING:** *...hopeful?* **SEEING:** *my iced dunkin melt* Volcanoes and coral reefs helped form the archipelago of Vanuatu, which sits east of Australia in the Pacific Ocean. The islands' isolation led to an explosion in biodiversity, including [many striking species](https://www.inaturalist.org/places/vanuatu?ref=possibilities.news) unlike any found elsewhere. Take the Vanuatu megapode, an endemic bird that looks a bit like a turkey. The islands are also home to over 335,000 people. I know, that might not sound like a lot, especially as I write from New York City, but every person is a universe. And they all just got a lot more power thanks to a first-ever [historic climate ruling](https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/187/187-20250723-pre-01-00-en.pdf?ref=possibilities.news) from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) out Wednesday. I listened to the livestream of the court hearing with shivers rushing up and down my arms. I've become a bit of a cynic these days, expecting very little from the powers that be. But today, climate justice was victorious. Nation-states, especially those that are members of the United Nations, cannot sit idly by and continue to destroy the planet and future generations with their reckless fossil fuel pollution. They have a legal duty to abide by international law. Legal consequences can follow if not. In short: Countries have a legal obligation to address the climate crisis, and vulnerable island nations like Vanuatu can be owed reparations for the irreparable harm they face at the hands of fossil fuel polluters. This is a huge fucking deal and exactly what the people need to push climate litigation further in the courts. [Subscribe here](https://www.possibilities.news/#/portal/signup) Welcome to **Possibilities**, a creative climate newsletter on the possibilities that lie where crisis meets community. I’m **Yessenia Funes**, and I'm looking beyond the U.S. to remind us of all the good happening elsewhere in the globe. This advisory opinion from the ICJ came after a years-long effort from the Republic of Vanuatu asking the U.N.'s ICJ to clarify the obligation of states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For too long, vulnerable nations that contributed very little (if at all) to the planet's worsening health have borne some of the worst impacts. “The Global South is bearing the brunt of a crisis it did not create," said Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu's Minister of Climate Change Adaptation, in a statement. "**F**amilies are losing their homes, entire cultures are at risk of disappearing, and lives are being shattered by man-made climate disasters. The nations most responsible for emissions should be held accountable for any violations of legal obligations, and they must also step up and lead in providing resources and support to aid those most affected. In Vanuatu, villages have already begun [forced relocation](https://www.cfe-dmha.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=To9OJi2PDZA%3D&portalid=0&ref=possibilities.news#:~:text=A%20large%20percentage%20of%20the,coastal%20erosion%20and%20ocean%20acidification.) due to the impacts of rising seas, such as salty seawater disrupting drinking water sources. Cyclone Pam [struck](https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/dying-reefs-flooded-graves-vanuatu-leading-global-climate-123945980?ref=possibilities.news) the region in 2015, devastating coral reefs. Eight years later, the country was [hit again](https://www.ifrc.org/press-release/cyclone-lola-leaves-trail-destruction-northern-vanuatu-warning-cyclone-season?ref=possibilities.news) by back-to-back cyclones. With the ICJ's unanimous ruling, countries like Vanuatu have a bit more teeth to sue polluting nations and demand financial assistance to deal with these growing impacts. In the minutes following the ruling, I texted with youth climate activist Ayisha Siddiqa, who's presently in Guam interning with a law firm on the case. This was her response: > "Three hours ago, the world had no real system for holding states to account for climate harm. Now, at last, we have legal language for the wrongs so many communities have lived and fought to name. The ICJ has swept aside decades of delay, affirming that states can be held responsible not just for damage already done, but for the risks they knowingly unleash on our future. Crucially, the Court recognized that fossil fuel expansion itself constitutes an internationally wrongful act; no state can plead ignorance as they drive the crisis further. This is huge: For the first time, climate justice is a matter of international law, and states that violate their obligations now face real legal consequences. The era of impunity may be coming to its end—there is now a legal pathway to end the age of fossil fuels and protect our collective future." The world's highest court has spoken. I hope our leaders listen. High-stakes negotiations at COP30 are around the corner. I know that the people won't accept the status quo any longer. We can't afford to. 🌀 --- 🗞️ ****C L A S S I F I E D S** < C'mon, support me and yourself with a short ad. > ***Buy one** [***here**](https://www.yessfun.com/store/p/possibilities-classifieds?ref=possibilities.news)***.** --- **The newsletter ends here for free subscribers.** [**Why not upgrade?**](https://www.possibilities.news/#/portal/signup) ## Rest in Power **While we can't say for certain that climate change led to these specific weather events (we need attribution studies for that), we do know that the Earth's rising temperatures are already creating more frequent and/or stronger disasters like these.** On Wednesday, a wildfire [killed](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/07/23/turkey-wildfire-forestry-workers-rescuers-killed/157b9564-67f8-11f0-ac4f-195fdb8ee9a8%5Fstory.html?ref=possibilities.news) at least 10 firefighters and rescue workers in Turkey. In India, monsoon storms caused lightning strikes that were responsible for at least [33 deaths](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/india-lightning-strike-deaths-bihar-monsoon-storms-rain-climate-change/?ref=possibilities.news) last week. Over the weekend, above-average rains [triggered](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/20/south-korea-rains-weeks-death-toll-rises-to-11-with-more-missing?ref=possibilities.news) floods and landslides that killed at least 17 people in South Korea. ## Currently Reading Nina Lakhani has a [visual story for The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jul/17/how-many-immigrants-food-industry-workers?ref=possibilities.news) on how the federal attacks on immigrants can threaten the U.S. food industry. Alleen Brown [goes deep for Grist](https://grist.org/project/indigenous/standing-rock-greenpeace-slapp-lawsuit-dakota-access-pipeline-dapl/?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fcampaign=weekly) on the Standing Rock movement—and Big Oil's attack on Greenpeace. Everyone must read Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk's [firsthand account](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/rumeysa-ozturk-what-i-witnessed-inside-an-ice-womens-prison?ref=possibilities.news) for Vanity Fair of a women's detention facility. Ugh, I adored this [story](https://atmos.earth/how-palestines-national-flower-mirrors-its-peoples-plight/?ref=possibilities.news) from Marta Vidal for Atmos on Palestine's national flower: the purple Faqqu'a iris. Imagine post-hurricane cleanup crews causing more environmental devastation than the actual hurricane. Well, that's what Benji Jones [uncovered](https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/420513/flooding-debris-removal-hurricane-helene-wildlife?ref=possibilities.news) in his reporting for Vox when he visited North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. Melissa Jun Rowley [for Rolling Stone](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture-council/articles/climate-storytelling-reclaiming-wonder-from-our-oceans-stars-1235387076/?ref=possibilities.news) on the power of wonder in climate storytelling: "So, next time you’re feeling inspired to write about the mission that drives you most, resist the temptation to log in to ChatGPT. Instead, go outside, walk along or through the nearest body of water, or look at the night sky and rest in wonder. The rest will follow." ## Poetry **LOVE LETTTER TO VANUATU** when the waters rise, who will hear our cries? perhaps the emerald dove— whose namesake wings fly above or the blue linckia starfish whose bright arms crawl on our underwater graves, murmuring stories of the brave humans who didn't behave— the humans brave enough to sing from the rooftops as the waters surrounded them brave enough to curse at the polluters who fled on their billion-dollar spaceships brave enough to believe in a future where humanity survives, not just the billionaires and birds, the polluters and the plants but regular people, too— poor people, working-class people, Indigenous people, Black people, happy people, sad people, people whose tongues can bend time with languages long forgotten, people who loved this land as kin people who never gave up, who never gave in \-ylf- ****What are you reading and seeing? Share in a comment.** **I'm headed on vacation this week. I'm a little nervous about going through customs when I return home. Send me a little prayer. I'm sending them back. xx** \- Yessenia