A new era for climate lawsuits

Today's newsletter looks at what a tiny Pacific nation's court win means for some of the world's biggest historical emitters. You can also read more on this story on Bloomberg.com. For unlimited access to climate and energy news, please subscribe.

A new era for climate lawsuits

By John Ainger

An opinion by the world's top court has galvanized those on the frontlines of the fight against climate change, by giving them fresh ammunition to pursue the biggest emitters.

In a first-of-its kind ruling, the International Court of Justice said on Wednesday that countries have an obligation to do all they can to keep global warming below the 1.5C goal outlined by the Paris Agreement, and could face consequences if they don't.

In one of the punchiest elements of the decision, consisting of 140 pages, the court said nations that have contributed most to climate change could be liable for "reparations" to those hardest hit by the impacts of global warming. The likes of the European Union and the US have strongly rejected such calls by developing countries and small island states in the past.

On the steps of the court in The Hague, delegates from countries most affected by climate change could scarcely hide their delight at a ruling that went beyond what they had hoped for. "It was unexpectedly good," said Ralph Regenvanu, climate minister for Vanuatu, the island atoll that spearheaded the effort through the United Nations General Assembly.

"It will inspire new cases, where victors around the world in a legal sense realize that they can claim their rights and seek accountability," he added.

Ralph Regenvanu Photographer: Hilaire Buleh/Getty Images

The ICJ doesn't have the power to enforce the opinion on its own, and clearly countries like Saudi Arabia aren't going to cease their fossil fuel production overnight on the back of it. Yet it provides some of the most solid legal arguments to date that can be used in climate-related lawsuits globally, giving activists a new tool in their arsenal with which to try and force countries to change their behaviors.

The case originated from a group of Pacific island law students in 2019 and it marks a victory for the most vulnerable nations. Yet it also encapsulates decades of frustration with international climate negotiations that have failed to curb global carbon emissions, despite increasing promises and pledges to do so. Fighting in the courts shows a realization that progress has to be pursued through other avenues.

Still, there are nascent signs of building climate momentum ahead of the UN COP30 climate summit taking place in the Brazilian city of Belem in November. With the US under President Donald Trump reversing course on climate action, the EU and China — the next two largest economies and historical emitters —are committing to take on the leadership mantle ahead of the summit.

John Silk, ambassador to the UN from the Marshall Islands, a series of atolls suffering from sea level rise and extreme weather events, said the ICJ decision means that even countries not party to climate treaties — most notably the US, which Trump has taken out of the Paris Agreement — are still "on the hook" to act.

The ICJ has "spelled out that those that have benefited from the exploitation of fossil fuels, for decades now, have an obligation to those of us now suffering as a result," he said. "We're relieved to have this decisively settled."

Read more on Bloomberg.com.

Lawyers in demand

2,967

Across almost 60 countries, this is how many climate lawsuits have been filed as of June 25, according to a report from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate.

A lot to defend

"It's an existential problem of planetary proportions that imperils all forms of life and the very health of our planet."

Yuji Iwasawa

International Court of Justice president

In his presentation of the opinion, the ICJ president said the climate questions posed by the UN General Assembly in the case represented more than a legal problem.

More from Green

Before the war, Souk Feras in central Gaza City was packed with rows of small shops and stalls where people came to haggle for fresh local produce: olives, tomatoes and peaches. Today, the market has been replaced by a landfill.

Souk Feras now holds around 200,000 metric tons of trash, according to Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO's Network, PNGO, who is based in Gaza.

Shawa is working with municipalities and United Nations agencies to try to identify new landfill sites, but he says that's not easy — around 45% of Gaza City has been forcibly evacuated, the rest is now effectively inaccessible. Fuel is scarce and roads are destroyed. The trash is "piling up uncontrollably," he said.

Souk Feras is one of nearly 350 sites in Gaza where waste has been piling up since the war between Israel and Hamas began in October 2023, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of high resolution satellite imagery from June 2025. In total, these new trash sites cover more than 1 square kilometer (0.4 square miles) of land. Given the limitations of satellite imagery, this is almost certainly an undercount, and it doesn't measure the volume of trash at each site.

The bombardment of Gaza is leaving a toxic legacy that will last generations, and extend beyond its borders. Read more on this story on Bloomberg.com.

Searching for salvageable items to reuse in a garbage dump that sprawls across what used to be Souk Feras market in Gaza City in April. Photographer: Omar Ashtawy/APAImages/Shutterstock

House Republicans are moving forward with plans to pull US funding for the International Energy Agency, saying the group has abandoned objectivity when it comes to projecting the growth of clean energy.

Dozens of climate and human-rights activists gathered at the main offices of Wells Fargo & Co. in San Francisco and New York to protest the bank's policies related to climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Wildfires fueled by soaring temperatures and strong winds across the eastern Mediterranean have left a dozen people dead in Turkey and Cyprus this week. Such fires have become a near constant summer threat as climate change creates more extreme weather patterns.

Worth a listen

The One Big Beautiful Bill has cut an estimated $500 billion in green spending, but the Trump administration policy that worries venture capitalist Vinod Khosla more for climate tech in the US is immigration. "They will shut down the import of talent, which is the key to growth," he told the Zero podcast on stage at the Bloomberg Green summit in Seattle, Washington last week.

Khosla said the "hostile environment" may even turn off those who are able to enter the US. "So we will reduce talented immigration of PhDs and people equipped to solve climate and other technology problems into this country, unfortunately," he said.

In a wide-ranging interview, Khosla also explained whether he's reconsidering investing in the US and when we can expect to see fusion. Listen now, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube to get new episodes of Zero every Thursday.