By Ezra Toara
Vanuatu has welcomed the Nice Ocean Action Plan at the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) but has reminded the global community that voluntary pledges are not enough to address the worsening climate crisis.
Minister of Climate Change Adaptation, Ralph Regenvanu, said climate action is not optional but a legal obligation under international law. “The Pacific contributes almost nothing to global greenhouse gas emissions — yet we are among the most severely affected. Our future is being sacrificed because the rest of the world is failing to act,” he said.
Vanuatu has submitted its ratification of the High Seas Treaty (BBNJ) and remains committed to ambitious climate and ocean action. However, Regenvanu said progress remains limited. “We are left grasping at every legal option available, including advisory opinions from international courts, to hold big polluters accountable for emissions heating the ocean and harming our environment.”
He added that protecting oceans from climate change is a legal duty under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and international environmental law. “We must move beyond voluntary pledges. These are binding legal obligations.” He said he hopes new advisory opinions from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and other courts will clarify state responsibilities.
Julian Aguon, Director of Blue Ocean Law, said Vanuatu and its allies had asked the ICJ to clarify two points: states’ legal obligations on climate change and the consequences of failing to meet those obligations. “Climate change is not happening in a legal vacuum,” Aguon said. “Existing international law — including human rights law, environmental law, and the law of the sea — fully applies to climate change conduct. The ICJ’s opinion will make this clear.”
Vishal Prasad, Director of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, said the ICJ campaign was led by young people directly witnessing climate impacts. “We are calling for a fossil-fuel-free ocean — without halting fossil fuel expansion, ocean protection is impossible.” He also called for increased ocean resilience funding and recognition of ocean health as a human right, especially for vulnerable Pacific communities.
Coral Pasisi, Director of Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability at the Pacific Community, warned that scientific projections show severe consequences from sea-level rise. “By 2050, small island nations could see a 34 cm rise in sea level — it may sound small, but it will make every storm more destructive, turning ‘once-in-a-century’ events into annual disasters.” She urged global leaders to deliver long-promised climate finance to help Pacific nations adapt.
Aguon concluded by saying international law must now demand reparations — including restitution and compensation — to make climate justice a reality.
ezra@dailypost.vu
