By Aditi Shetye, Ashawnte Russell, Brenda Reson Shapuro, José Daniel Rodríguez Orúe, Mert Kumru, Nicole Ponce, and Jule Schnakenberg, WYCJ

Global civil society engagement for an International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion on climate change originated from Pacific youth, and was taken on by the Government of Vanuatu, alongside Pacific, African, and Caribbean governments. At the same time, the journey to the ICJ has been driven by a global youth and civil society movement that for more than four years has tirelessly lobbied governments worldwide to advocate for legal action on climate change.

At the forefront of this effort is World’s Youth for Climate Justice (WYCJ), a network of over a thousand campaigners operating across national and regional fronts who, in partnership with the Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change, have mobilized youth, States, and civil society around the world behind this historic climate case. Each of these regions had unique experiences, realities, needs, capacities, awareness, interests, and perceptions of the Court that varied greatly – and so did civil society approaches to garner State and non-State actor support in their respective regions. This piece explores the youth-led campaign behind the push for the ICJ climate change advisory opinion.

Latin America and the Caribbean

In Latin America, WYCJ worked to lobby State and civil society organization (CSO) support for the ICJ advisory opinion campaign. With the support of local youth networks and civil society partners, especially Climate Action Network Latin America (CANLA), we campaigned to convince Ministries of Foreign Affairs to sponsor the UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution requesting the opinion. Among other achievements, this resulted in the co-sponsorship of the resolution by Peru, thanks to our collaboration with the Peruvian Youth Fighting Climate Change.

Since the resolution’s adoption, youth from the Americas have actively advocated for the inclusion of youth perspectives in the proceedings before the Court, meeting with legal advisors in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Chile, and Colombia. WYCJ has also provided technical support to States in their participation in the proceedings, through workshops and one-on-one bilaterals. Our Latin American team has provided capacity building on strategic litigation and advocacy for youth and universities across the continent, and has engaged in other advisory proceedings on climate justice. As a region disproportionately affected by climate change and with overall negligible historical cumulative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, we expect our governments to champion climate justice at the ICJ and urge them to showcase the voices of youth and communities most impacted by climate change, especially Indigenous Peoples.

In the Caribbean, WYCJ partnered with several regional and international organizations like BREEF, The Breadfruit Collective, Roots People, and the FXB International to advance our capacity-building efforts and regional training modules. Through these collaborations, we have reached and engaged with young people from English, French, Dutch, and Spanish speaking communities, as in the case of the Caribbean Climate Justice Camp.

Through initiatives like these, we have been able to discuss and prioritize solutions that address the challenges of climate change exacerbated by our complex colonial past, which has significantly shaped our socioeconomic and environmental landscapes. As we now engage in the Caribbean capacity building for the ICJ oral hearings, we lean into the groundwork laid during the Caribbean capacity building for the written phase, with the hope of maximizing States’ commitment and meaningful participation of youth and civil society in these proceedings.

Over the past year, we have focused on our guiding principle: if we are to leave no one behind, we must first acknowledge those voices not in the room. As a region that contributes minimally to this global crisis, we call for acknowledgment paired with action, communication, and transparency.

Africa

In Africa, our commitment to climate justice has mobilized youth across the continent to advocate for the ICJ advisory opinion as a vital tool against the climate crisis. We have actively engaged various stakeholders, including CSOs, academic partners, State representatives, and government officials to foster collaborative dialogue on urgent climate issues. These collaborative dialogues have gone a long way to inspire leaders to make bold decisions and inform States’ arguments for intergenerational equity. 

Our capacity-building initiatives, including workshops and webinars, aimed to empower young leaders by enhancing their understanding of the ICJ process. These efforts have led to increased youth participation in discussions surrounding the advisory opinion and facilitated meaningful contributions to submissions made to the Court.

Recognizing Africa’s vulnerability to the climate crisis, we urge all stakeholders to unite in championing the ICJ advisory opinion as a crucial instrument for climate justice. It is imperative that we amplify our collective voices and ensure that the perspectives of those most affected by climate change are not only heard but prioritized in decision-making processes.

Asia

Recognizing Asia’s unique political landscape, WYCJ Asia has mobilized youth across the continent to advocate for an ICJ advisory opinion as a concrete tool against the climate crisis and to secure its place on Asian political agendas. Through capacity building and advocacy, we aimed to inspire leaders to take decisive action. This has led to invitations for regional consultations, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) consultations on human rights and climate change, led by the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Malaysia in May 2023, and participation in drafting the ASEAN Peoples Declaration on Environmental Rights in Bangkok in August 2024. Our engagements in 2023 with governments in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and the Philippines have paved the way for meaningful youth participation and contributions to ICJ submissions.

As youth in Asia, we know the importance of working at national and regional levels alongside international efforts. We urge ASEAN and climate-vulnerable Asian States to seize this opportunity to champion a comprehensive ICJ advisory opinion, ensuring our perspectives are represented and those most affected by the climate crisis are not left out of this critical process.

Europe

The European front of WYCJ faced a set of unique challenges in its advocacy work. The European continent is home to a group of 27 highly developed economies that, combined, form one of the biggest GHG emitters. However, unknown to most people, the EU is also home of several small island developing States (SIDS). The overseas territories of France and the Netherlands in the Pacific and the Caribbean, for example, are more prone to experience the full brunt of the climate crisis than continental Europe, perhaps already this century.

To maximize the campaign’s impact of our advocacy work, we focused on gathering European youth from across the continent through capacity-building camps and advocacy workshops. Several of these young people decided to join the European front and became part of a network of campaigners that offer their volunteering services for WYCJ. With their support we have successfully engaged with EU States and the European Commission to pursue a progressive interpretation of the legal questions that are presented to the ICJ.

Our efforts secured the formal support of the EU Commissioner on climate change, resulting in the EU’s open support of the advisory opinion request and its participation in the proceedings before the Court. However, the EU’s participation and recognition is not enough. We call for the inclusion of EU youth from both mainland Europe and from overseas territories in the drafting of State submissions and in the hearings. Our work will not stop after the delivery of the ICJ advisory opinion. We demand climate justice at home for those less protected abroad.

WYCJ’s Legal Advocacy Taskforce, a group of young international lawyers and students from around the world, have supported the technical stages of mobilization and State engagement across all regions, with a special focus on climate-vulnerable States. In this way, we have socialized complex legal arguments, procedures of the advisory opinion process, and high-level systematic procedures for governments, lawyers, youth, media, and the public.

For the ICJ advisory proceedings, the legal advocacy team supported State participation in the written submissions through the Youth Climate Justice Handbook and provided legal advice to States to ensure climate justice arguments are being put forth in the proceedings. We have also organized multilateral State briefings, with the support of the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL), to guide first-time participants in the advisory proceedings.

WYCJ also engaged in other initiatives before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) and the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) as it endeavors to shape the legal narrative in conjunction with youth mobilization efforts, advocating for the principled integration of human rights in the search for climate justice. Overall, we aim to foster a cutting-edge space for legal inquiry and dialogue, where young legal professionals can meaningfully contribute to the legal literature centering on climate justice, all the while growing their skills and getting a first glimpse into international practice.

From the Pacific’s visionary leadership to the dedicated regional youth mobilization across Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, and Europe, this campaign has shown the strength of collective action in bridging diverse realities and amplifying the voices of the most vulnerable. Our collective journey has set a powerful precedent for how youth, communities, civil society, and States can work together to transform complex legal processes into instruments for justice. No matter the outcome, the campaign’s legacy will continue to inspire and fuel the fight for a more just and sustainable world.

As the oral proceedings will kick off on 2 December, all eyes are now on the ICJ. Global satellite events are in the making, and mobilization activities in The Hague and beyond are being planned. WYCJ believes that the ICJ, through its advisory opinion, has the potential to set a baseline in clarifying broader State obligations concerning climate change. It could either reinforce the unequal systems that were established decades ago – or establish an authoritative and equitable legal map that complements the law applicable to the negotiating process without duplicating the systemic inequalities, further burdening least responsible States. As the hearings approach, we call on States to ensure the meaningful participation of youth, Indigenous Peoples, and frontline communities before the world’s highest Court.

Once the advisory opinion is delivered, we stand ready to use it as another tool to hold polluters accountable and inform climate policy centered around human rights. For more action, for more ambition, for more equity!

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This article was written by Aditi Shetye (Legal Advocacy Taskforce), Ashawnte Russell (Caribbean Front), Brenda Reson Shapuro (African Front), José Daniel Rodríguez Orúe (Latin America Front), Mert Kumru (European Front), Nicole Ponce (Asian Front), and Jule Schnakenberg (WYCJ Executive Director).

This Guest Article is part of a project that seeks to raise awareness and build momentum and knowledge around the ICJ advisory opinion on obligations of States in respect of climate change and to promote a better understanding of the implications of the advisory opinion among sustainable development decision makers.