Search

UN’s Top Court Begins Hearings on Landmark Climate Case

We are an online community created around a smart and easy to access information hub which is focused on providing proven global and local insights about sustainability

06 Dec, 2024

This post was originally published on Eco Watch

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) — the United Nations’ highest court — began hearings on Monday in the biggest case in its history. The hearings involve what legal obligations States have when it comes to climate change.

The proceedings represent efforts by the international community to formulate a legal framework to address the climate crisis.

“Climate change for us is not a distant threat,” Vishal Prasad, director of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change — a group active in bringing the legal action — told journalists before the hearings, as The Guardian reported. “It is reshaping our lives right now. Our islands are at risk. Our communities face disruptive change at a rate and scale that generations before us have not known.”

Representatives from small Pacific island states outside the ICJ in The Hague, Netherlands on Dec. 2, 2024. Michel Porro / Getty Images

Vanuatu was the first country to present arguments at the hearings. The South Pacific nation of small islands urged the UN court to address the harms caused by climate change and the legal obligation of “a handful of readily identifiable states” to address their contributions to global heating and its impacts.

It is expected that a record amount of oral statements will be presented to the ICJ during the hearings, which will continue until December 13 in the Hague, Netherlands, reported UN News. 

Following the hearings, the ICJ will issue an advisory opinion — expected in 2025 — to clarify the legal obligations of States under international law, as well as the consequences for breaching those duties.

ICJ’s advisory opinions are not legally binding, but experts say they clarify law and are authoritative documents that will be referred to in future climate litigation, as well as during international climate negotiations, The Guardian said in another report.

Ralph Regenvanu, special climate change and environment envoy representing Vanuatu, told the ICJ judges that the “readily identifiable states” responsible for the climate crisis had produced most of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions while being the least affected by them.

The court heard testimony on how Vanuatu and other Pacific island states bear the brunt of more frequent and severe climate disasters, including rising sea levels.

“We find ourselves on the frontlines of a crisis we did not create,” Regenvanu said, as The Guardian reported.

The hearing was the result of diplomacy led by Vanuatu and years of work by Pacific island law students.

During the hearings, 98 countries will give statements, including wealthy nations most responsible for the climate crisis such as the United States, China, Russia and the United Kingdom.

Though the decision will not be legally binding, advisory opinions have “an authoritative value and cannot be neglected,” the ICJ Registrar said in a recent UN News interview.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the advisory opinion will assist the UN, General Assembly and Member States to “take the bolder and stronger climate action that our world so desperately needs,” as reported by UN News.

“It could also guide the actions and conduct of States in their relations with each other, as well as towards their own citizens. This is essential,” Guterres stressed.

The post UN’s Top Court Begins Hearings on Landmark Climate Case appeared first on EcoWatch.

Pass over the stars to rate this post. Your opinion is always welcome.
[Total: 0 Average: 0]

You may also like…

Bee Hotels Can Help Native Pollinators Recover in the Wake of Climate-Fueled Wildfires: Study

Bee Hotels Can Help Native Pollinators Recover in the Wake of Climate-Fueled Wildfires: Study

Wild pollinator populations are declining all over the world, with increasingly severe climate change-fueled wildfires threatening their survival. These intense wildfires are also putting long-term ecosystem health and biodiversity at risk. Bee hotels are artificial nesting structures that have been specially designed to house cavity-nesting species. Often placed in backyards or gardens, they provide safe […]
The post Bee Hotels Can Help Native Pollinators Recover in the Wake of Climate-Fueled Wildfires: Study appeared first on EcoWatch.

ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB has gained Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) status for its Gearless Mill Drive (GMD) ring motor — technology used to drive large grinding mills in the mining industry.

An EPD is a standardised document that provides detailed information about the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle. Based on a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, the EPD highlights ABB’s commitment to transparency, environmental responsibility and supporting customers in making informed decisions on sustainability in their supply chains.

ABB analysed the environmental impact of a ring motor across its entire life cycle from supply chain and production to usage and end-of-life disposal. The study was conducted for a ring motor of a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill with an installed power of 24 MW and was based on a reference service life of 25 years.

“Sustainability is at the core of our purpose at ABB, influencing how we operate and innovate for customers,” said Andrea Quinta, Sustainability Specialist at ABB. “By earning the Environmental Product Declaration for our ring motor, we emphasise our environmental stewardship and industry leadership for this technology. We adhered to the highest standards throughout this process, as we do in the ABB Ring Motor factory every day. This recognition highlights to the mining industry what they are bringing into their own operations when they work with ABB.”

The comprehensive LCA was conducted at ABB’s factory in Bilbao, Spain, and was externally verified and published in accordance with international standards ISO 14025 and ISO 14040/14044. It will remain valid for five years.

The ring motor, a key component of the GMD, is a drive system without any gears where the transmission of the torque between the motor and the mill is done through the magnetic field in the air gap between the motor stator and the motor rotor. It optimises grinding applications in the minerals and mining industries by enabling variable-speed operation, leading to energy and cost savings.

The full EPD for the ABB GMD Ring Motor can be viewed on EPD International.

0 Comments