“Protecting the climate is an obligation”: the historic UN decision that points the finger at polluting states

With 141 votes in favor, the United Nations General Assembly approved a historic resolution that reinforces the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July 2025, according to which States have a duty to protect the climate and the environment from greenhouse gas emissions.

A step that could mark a turning point in international climate law and pave the way for new legal actions against governments and fossil industries and behind which there is above all the diplomatic work of Vanuatu, a small island state in the Pacific that is among the most vulnerable to rising sea levels and extreme climate events. For years the country has been leading an international battle to obtain recognition of the legal responsibilities of states with respect to the climate crisis.

The resolution was adopted after intense negotiations and several attempts at amendment. Voting against were Belarus, Iran, Israel, Liberia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United States and Yemen. Twenty-eight countries abstained.

By adopting a resolution, confirming the International Court of Justice’s landmark advisory opinion on climate change, the General Assembly has laid a solid foundation for climate legal action and strengthened clear policy guidance for governments, while also recognizing at the political level obligations that the Court has described as existing under international law – say the WWF. An important step to transform legal principles into concrete actions for the benefit of people, nature and future generations.

What the Court of The Hague had established

In July 2025 the Court established a principle destined to become jurisprudence: states have the obligation to prevent significant damage to the climate system caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

Not only that. According to the Court, if a country violates these obligations it can be held legally responsible and forced to:

Even if the advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice are not formally binding, they have enormous legal and political weight because they help to define international law.

The world’s highest court has spoken. Today the General Assembly responded. Guterres said after the vote.

According to the Secretary General, the resolution sends an unmistakable signal: the climate crisis can no longer be addressed with vague promises or continuous postponements.

The text calls on all UN member states to:

The decision could have very real consequences. In recent years, climate lawsuits against governments and fossil multinationals have increased, brought by citizens, environmental associations and indigenous communities.

With this resolution, those who denounce climate inaction will have a further international legal reference to use in the courts.

According to many observers, the UN vote also strengthens the principle of “climate justice”: the countries and populations least responsible for emissions are often those who pay the highest price in terms of drought, floods, loss of territory and food insecurity. Guterres reiterated that the road passes through “a rapid, just and equitable transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy“, remembering that renewables now represent “the cheapest and safest form of energy”.

And above all it has relaunched a message that in recent years seemed increasingly fragile: keeping global warming within 1.5°C is still possible, but the time to act is rapidly running out.