The United States recognizes the climate crisis as one of the gravest challenges humanity has ever faced. Beginning today, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is holding two weeks of public hearings in the advisory proceeding on States’ international obligations in respect of climate change, initiated at the request of the UN General Assembly in March 2023.
Although the United States remains of the view that climate change is best addressed through diplomatic efforts, it welcomes the opportunity to share its legal views and engage with States and the Court on the questions posed, including through these public hearings. The United States will make its oral presentation to the Court on Wednesday, December 4, at 10:45am EST. A livestream of the proceedings can be viewed on the ICJ’s website.
The UN climate change regime, and particularly the 2015 Paris Agreement, provides the critical international legal framework for States’ cooperation in addressing the collective action problem of climate change. States jointly designed this regime to tackle this uniquely complex global problem in a cooperative manner.
As a major economy, the United States recognizes the important role it has to play in addressing climate change, and it takes its international obligations seriously. It has been doing its part, at home and abroad. The United States joins the vast majority of other States in underscoring the need for urgent action in this critical decade and beyond to achieve deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in order to keep a limit on warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach, achieve global net-zero emissions by 2050, and avoid the most catastrophic impacts of the climate crisis. Addressing climate change is not only one of the greatest challenges of our time, but also a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unleash a new era of economic growth, good-paying union jobs, historic investment, and energy security.
