A landmark climate change case opens at the top UN court as island nations fear rising seas

Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The top United Nations court has taken up the largest case in its history, hearing the plight of several small island nations helpless in combating the devastating impact of climate change. They demand that major polluting nations be held to account. After years of lobbying by island nations who fear they could simply disappear under rising sea waters, the U.N. General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice last year for an opinion on “the obligations of States in respect of climate change.” The attorney-general of Vanuatu said Monday: “The survival of my people and so many others is on the line.”