21/05/2024

International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) issues advisory opinion on the obligations of states under UNCLOS in relation to climate change

More than half a dozen Twenty Essex barristers represented states, intergovernmental organisations and NGOs in the ITLOS proceedings, which included a two-week hearing in Hamburg in September 2023. The tribunal received submissions from over 40 state parties and intergovernmental organisations.

The tribunal’s opinion, published today (21 May 2024), concluded that the introduction of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere does constitute pollution of the marine environment within the meaning of article 1(1)(4) of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and set out in detail its views on the specific obligations on states under UNCLOS in relation to climate change and ocean acidification.

The ITLOS proceedings were instigated by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS), via a request for an advisory opinion lodged with the tribunal in December 2022.

Separate proceedings on states’ obligations with respect to the effects of climate change are ongoing in the International Court of Justice, following a request by the UN General Assembly.

Twenty Essex barristers who acted or advised in the ITLOS proceedings include:

• Philippa Webb, for COSIS
• Kate Parlett, for Australia
• Guglielmo Verdirame KC and Simon Olleson, for Rwanda
• Belinda McRae and Courtney Grafton, for the United Kingdom
• Monica Feria-Tinta, for WWF
• Sudhanshu Swaroop KC and Penelope Nevill