The ICJ declares that climate change is a "universal risk" that States must prevent.

MADRID (EUROPA PRESS) - The International Court of Justice declared this Wednesday that climate change is an existential "universal risk," caused "unequivocally" by human activity.

The United Nations' highest judicial body also ruled that member states have a "duty" to prevent climate change.

In an advisory opinion on States' obligations regarding climate change issued this Wednesday, reported by Europa Press, the Commission recalls that States must adopt measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.

States designated in Annex I to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have additional obligations to lead the fight against climate change; cooperate to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; or comply with relevant provisions of the Kyoto Protocol.

Under the Paris Agreement, the International Court of Justice warns that States have an obligation to act with due diligence according to common but differentiated responsibilities, commit to successive and progressive nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and pursue the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

States must also fulfill adaptation and cooperation obligations, including technology transfer and financing, "all in good faith."

It also notes that international law imposes duties to prevent significant damage to the environment by acting with due diligence and employing all available means to avoid harmful activities; and to cooperate in good faith to prevent significant damage to the climate system through sustained and ongoing forms of cooperation.

States must also respect and ensure human rights by taking the necessary measures to protect the climate system and the environment.

The International Court of Justice warns that the violation of any of the aforementioned obligations "constitutes an internationally wrongful act which entails the responsibility of the offending State, which must continue to perform the breached obligation."

Legal consequences may include the cessation of the wrongful acts or omissions, if they are ongoing; the provision of guarantees of non-repetition, if circumstances so require; or full reparation to the injured States (restitution, compensation, and satisfaction), provided that the general requirements of State responsibility law are met, including the existence of a sufficiently direct and certain causal link between the wrongful act and the harm.