Africa

Massacres scar the Sudanese town of el-Geneina, now a near-empty city as the 19-month war grinds on.

Massacres scar the Sudanese town of el-Geneina, now a near-empty city as the 19-month war grinds on.

Credit: US National Archives

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 2 2024 (IPS)

If and when the devastating military conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza come to an end, the ultimate winners will not be the Russians, the Americans or the Israelis but the world’s arms manufacturers—contemptuously described as “merchants of death”.

And so will be the winners in a rash of conflicts and civil wars in Syria, Myanmar, Lebanon, Yemen, Sudan and Afghanistan.

The latest report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) points out revenues from sales of arms and military services by the 100 largest companies in the industry reached $632 billion in 2023, a real-terms increase of 4.2 per cent compared with 2022.

The new data, released December 2, says arms revenue increases were seen in all regions, with particularly sharp rises among companies based in Russia and the Middle East.

Overall, smaller producers were more efficient at responding to new demand linked to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, growing tensions in East Asia and rearmament programmes elsewhere.

In 2023, according to SIPRI, many arms producers ramped up their production in response to surging demand. The total arms revenues of the Top 100 bounced back after a dip in 2022.

Almost three quarters of companies increased their arms revenues year-on-year. Notably, most of the companies that increased their revenues were in the lower half of the Top 100.

“There was a marked rise in arms revenues in 2023, and this is likely to continue in 2024,” predicted Lorenzo Scarazzato, a Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.

“The arms revenues of the Top 100 arms producers still did not fully reflect the scale of demand, and many companies have launched recruitment drives, suggesting they are optimistic about future sales,” he said.

Dr. Simon Adams, President and CEO, the Center for Victims of Torture, told IPS the number of people in the world displaced by persecution, conflict and atrocities has more than tripled in the past decade to over 120 million.

The people who have gained the most from this expansion in human misery, he said, are the war criminals, torturers and human rights violators of the world.

“But they can’t survive without the weapons manufacturers who arm and enable them. And it is the arms manufacturers who have directly profited the most”.

“Wherever we see civilian suffering, bombed buildings, death and destruction in the world, there is some arms trader who sees a fresh business opportunity and increased profit margins.”

This is an industry whose economic livelihood is bloodshed,” declared Dr Adams.

In an article titled “War Profiteering” in the July issue of The Nation, David Vine and Theresa Arriola single out the five biggest US companies thriving off the war industry: Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Boeing and General Dynamics.

And it was US President Dwight Eisenhower, who in 1961, warned Americans about the might of the “military industrial complex” (MIC) in the US.

According to Brown University’s Costs of War project, cited in the article, “the MIC has sowed incomprehensible destruction globally, keeping the United States locked in endless wars that, since 2001, have killed an estimated 4.5 million people, injured many millions more, and displaced at least 38 million.”

Dr M.V. Ramana, Professor and Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, and Graduate Program Director, at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, told IPS the latest statistics published by SIPRI shows how military industries and investors in these producers of the means of killing and maiming people are thriving economically even as their role in perpetuating slaughter of civilian populations and the violation of the human rights among peoples in multiple countries becomes clearer by the day.

“Leading this ignominious list is the United States, which sells roughly half of all the weapons sold; the top five arms merchants are U.S. companies, which together account for around a third of all sales.”

This state of affairs, he argued, is tragic, not only because of the human toll extracted by these weapons in places around the world, ranging from Gaza and Lebanon to Ukraine, but also because this money could be used to meet pressing human needs around the world.

To offer but one example, the United Nations World Food Program, he said, estimates that it would cost $40 billion every year “to feed all of the world’s hungry people and end global hunger by 2030”.

That’s less than 40 percent of the revenues of the top two corporations involved in the arms business. In all, the data meticulously produced year after year by SIPRI is a really sad commentary on the priorities of governments and powerful institutions that control decisions on spending, Dr Ramana declared.

According to SIPRI, the 41 companies in the Top 100 based in the United States recorded arms revenues of $317 billion, half the total arms revenues of the Top 100 and 2.5 per cent more than in 2022. Since 2018, the top five companies in the Top 100 have all been based in the USA.

Of the 41 US companies, 30 increased their arms revenues in 2023. However, Lockheed Martin and RTX, the world’s two largest arms producers, were among those registering a drop.

‘Larger companies like Lockheed Martin and RTX, manufacturing a wide range of arms products, often depend on complex, multi-tiered supply chains, which made them vulnerable to lingering supply chain challenges in 2023,’ said Dr Nan Tian, Director of SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. ‘This was particularly the case in the aeronautics and missile sectors.’

Meanwhile, the combined arms revenues of the 27 Top 100 companies based in Europe (excluding Russia) totalled $133 billion in 2023. This was only 0.2 per cent more than in 2022, the smallest increase in any world region.

However, behind the low growth figure the picture is more nuanced. European arms companies producing complex weapon systems were mostly working on older contracts during 2023 and their revenues for the year consequently do not reflect the influx of orders.

‘Complex weapon systems have longer lead times,’ said Scarazzato. ‘Companies that produce them are thus inherently slower in reacting to changes in demand. That explains why their arms revenues were relatively low in 2023, despite a surge in new orders.’

At the same time, a number of other European producers saw their arms revenues grow substantially, driven by demand linked to the war in Ukraine, particularly for ammunition, artillery and air defence and land systems.

Notably, companies in Germany, Sweden, Ukraine, Poland, Norway and Czechia were able to tap into this demand. For instance, Germany’s Rheinmetall increased production capacity of 155-mm ammunition and its revenues were boosted by deliveries of its Leopard tanks and new orders, including through war-related ‘ring-exchange’ programmes (under which countries supply military goods to Ukraine and receive replacements from allies).

The SIPRI Arms Industry Database, which presents a more detailed data set for the years 2002–23, is available on SIPRI’s website at <https://www.sipri.org/databases/armsindustry>.

Thalif Deen is a former Director, Foreign Military Markets at Defense Marketing Services; Senior Defense Analyst at Forecast International; and military editor Middle East/Africa at Jane’s Information Group. He is author of the 2021 book on the United Nations titled “No Comment – and Don’t Quote me on That” available on Amazon. The link to Amazon via the author’s website follows: https://www.rodericgrigson.com/no-comment-by-thalif-deen/

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

The Peace Palace housing the International Court of Justice. The court today will begin hearings into the responsibilities of UN member states with regard to climate change. Credit: ICJ

By Cecilia Russell
JOHANNESBURG, Dec 2 2024 (IPS)

The intersection of law, diplomacy, and science will come under the spotlight at the International Court of Justice hearings starting today (Monday, December 2, 2024) in The Hague as the court starts its deliberations into the obligations under international law of UN member states to protect people and ecosystems from climate change.

The case was started by the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC) with the support of Ishmael Kalsakau, the then prime minister of the Pacific island of Vanuatu. Now Vanautu will be the first of 98 countries that will make presentations during the fortnight of hearings, after which the court will give an advisory opinion.

Grace Malie, Tuvalu youth and climate activist speaking at COP29 in Baku, says the advisory opinion will set a “baseline that cannot be ignored,” especially for the youth in climate change-affected countries.

Tuvalu, a small low-lying atoll nation, faces an uncertain future due to sea level rise and it is estimated that by 2050 half the land area of the capital will be flooded by tidal waters. While it has ambitious adaptation plans, it also has developed a Te Ataeao Nei project (Future Now) that outlines how it will manage statehood should it face the worst-case scenario and sink due to rising sea levels.

“What this means for Pacific youth is that climate talks can no longer dismiss our existential concerns as negotiable.” It will foster an environment that secures the islands as “thriving” and “resilient,” rather than as “distant” memories.

The ruling, she believes, will secure the Pacific’s youths’ rights, including to remain rooted in culture, land, and heritage as protected by international law.

The ICJ’s hearings and advisory opinion are unique in that they do not focus solely on a single aspect of international law. Instead, they include the UN Charter, the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the duty of due diligence, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the principle of prevention of significant harm to the environment, and the duty to protect and preserve marine environments.

The court will give its opinion on the obligations of states under international law to ensure the protection of the climate system for present and future generations.

It will also consider the legal consequences of causing significant harm to the climate system and the environment and its impact on other states, including “small island developing states (SIDS), which are affected by climate change, and peoples and individuals, both present and future generations, affected by the adverse effects of climate change.”

Attorney General Graham Leung of Fiji says the court isn’t a substitute for negotiations, which are complex and painstakingly slow.

“The ICJ opinion will be precedent-setting. That is to say it will cover and discuss and analyze the legal issues and the scientific issues, and it will come to a very, very important or authoritative decision that will carry great moral weight.

While the court doesn’t have enforcement rights and while it won’t be legally binding, it will work through moral persuasion.

“It’s going to be a very brave country that will stand up against an advisory opinion on the International Court of Justice, because if you are in that minority that violates the opinion of the court, you can be regarded as a pariah or as an outlaw in the international community.”

The hearings come as the outcome of the COP29 negotiations was met with criticism, especially with regard to the financing of the impacts of climate change.

Ahead of the hearings, WWF Global Climate and Energy Lead and COP20 President Manuel Pulgar-Vidal said, “With most countries falling far short of their obligations to reduce emissions and protect and restore nature, this advisory opinion has the potential to send a powerful legal signal that states cannot ignore their legal duties to act.”

Other criticisms of the present status quo include a belief that the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are inadequate, and climate finance, intended as a polluter pays mechanism, has failed to reach those most affected, with, for example, the Pacific countries only receiving 0.2 percent of the USD 100 billion a year climate finance pledge.

Cristelle Pratt, Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS), , agrees that the court’s decision will make it easier to negotiate on climate finance and loss and damage provisions by making that clearer.

It’s expected the ICJ to publish its final advisory opinion in 2025.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Excerpt:

Youth and climate activists believe that the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion will send a powerful legal signal that UN member states cannot ignore their legal duties to act and protect the environment against climate change.

Olympic champions Letsile Tebogo and Sifan Hassan are named male and female athlete of the year at the World Athletics Awards.

Abdul Nondo's reported kidnapping follows the abduction and killing of another opposition figure in September.

This is the latest incident on the country's inland waterways where regulations are rarely enforced.

Presidential candidate Panduleni Itula alleges electoral malpractice after voting was extended.

Woman's body thrown overboard after boat abandoned by people smugglers in the Indian Ocean.

Woman's body thrown overboard after boat abandoned by people smugglers in the Indian Ocean.

Woman's body thrown overboard after boat abandoned by people smugglers in the Indian Ocean.

Creatives in Nairobi unleash their imaginations in an effort to inspire a new future for the city.

Creatives in Nairobi unleash their imaginations in an effort to inspire a new future for the city.

The 50-year-old is being held after being extradited from Italy, according to reports.

An aerial view of children and their families standing near temporary shelters at the Khamsa Dagiga site for displaced people in Zelingei Town, Central Darfur,and Sudan. Credit: UNICEF/Antony Spalton

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 29 2024 (IPS)

The humanitarian crisis in Sudan continues to deepen as a result of the ongoing Sudanese Civil War. Intensified conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has led to widespread food insecurity, with many humanitarian organizations expressing concern that starvation is being used as a method of warfare. Additionally, heightened violence has caused considerable civilian casualties.

According to a statement by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the civil war has displaced over 11 million people, becoming one of the world’s biggest displacement crises. Reports of widespread violations of international humanitarian law have impeded relief efforts greatly, worsening the pre-existing hunger crisis.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has declared Sudan to be in an emergency state of disaster due to famine. A total of 25.6 million people are facing acute hunger, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

Starvation is most concentrated in the Zamzam refugee camp, currently one of the largest and most populated displacement shelters in Sudan. “Families at Zamzam have been resorting to extreme measures to survive because food is so scarce. They are eating crushed peanut shells that are typically used to feed animals — and across the camp, parents are mourning the deaths of malnourished children,” said Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General.

Additionally, soup kitchens across Sudan have seen mass closures due to severe underfunding and a lack of humanitarian assistance. Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) spoke to reporters of the scale of suffering in Sudan due to famine, opining that starvation is used as a method of warfare by the warring parties. “It’s an underfunded operation, even though it’s the world’s biggest emergency. The war will stop when these warlords feel they have more to lose by continuing fighting, than by doing the sensible thing,” he said.

A November study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Sudan Research Group indicates that the overall death toll has increased significantly following the wake of armed conflict in Sudan. The report estimates that between April 2023 and June 2024, over 61,000 people died in the Khartoum state, marking a 50 percent increase from the pre-war death rate.

It is also estimated that 26,000 deaths were a direct result of violence, with starvation and disease becoming increasingly common causes of death in Khartoum. According to the report, the total death toll may far surpass these figures as approximately 90 percent of all deaths in Sudan go unreported.

In addition to damage caused by the two warring parties, smaller armed groups have participated in looting and attacks. “The parties are tearing down their own houses, they are massacring their own people,” Egeland said.

Humanitarian organizations have expressed concern over the escalation of violence observed over the past several months. Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the UN Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, predicts that Sudan could experience a “Rwanda-like genocide” based on the current circumstances. Nderitu also added that there have been reports of ethnic cleansing in El Fasher.

On November 26, the WFP announced that they would scale up aid responses in the most famine-stricken areas of Sudan following the Sudanese government issuing clearance to use the Adre border crossing.

“In total, the trucks will carry about 17,500 tons of food assistance, enough to feed 1.5 million people for one monthIn total, the trucks will carry about 17,500 tons of food assistance, enough to feed 1.5 million people for one month,” said WFP Sudan spokesperson Leni Kinzli.

However, due to pervasive violence and the overall urgent scale of needs, additional funding is in dire need to mitigate the deepening humanitarian crisis. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), approximately 25 million people require humanitarian assistance, which equates to nearly half of the entire population. The UN’s 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan seeks 2.7 billion dollars to provide life-saving assistance to over 14 million affected people. The UN urges continued donor support as only 56 percent of the required funds have been raised.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

The announcement comes after Mauritius's new prime minister expressed doubts over the deal.

Hundreds have reportedly detained in recent weeks as relations between the two countries worsen.

The Maya Train’s Merida-Teya station, in the southeastern Mexican state of Yucatan. Stations fill up when the train arrives, but remain empty most of the time. Credit: Emilio Godoy / IPS

By Emilio Godoy
VALLADOLID, Mexico, Nov 29 2024 (IPS)

Indigenous craftsperson Alicia Pech doesn’t know about the Maya Train (TM), the Mexican government’s most emblematic megaproject that runs through five states in the country’s south and southeast

“We don’t travel. We lack the resources to travel on the train here. Who wouldn’t like to get on and ride somewhere? Right now… there are no visitors, no people coming. We think that by December there will be a bit more,” the 44-year-old Mayan woman told IPS."The Maya do not manage it or operate it... the government is trying to keep the project from being derailed. People feel it is alien to them; it is the culmination of a process of dispossession": Miguel Anguas.

She was born and lives in Dzitnup, from where she travels every day by bus to Valladolid, a city in the southeastern state of Yucatán, 30 minutes away, to work in the clothing shop she owns with 11 other Mayan women. They weave and embroider blouses, dresses and other textiles, a couple of blocks from the city’s downtown.

The weaver, a married mother of three, complains about low sales. “We can’t afford to pay for the shop, there are no people right now,” she said.

Valladolid, which has a population of about 85,500, is one of 26 stations already in operation on the railway, whose construction began in 2020 and five of the seven planned routes have been operating since December 2023.

The TM was initially in charge of the governmental National Fund for Tourism Development (Fonatur) and since 2023 of the Ministry of National Defence (Sedena). It runs for some 1,500 kilometres through 78 municipalities in the three states of the Yucatán peninsula – Campeche, Quintana Roo and Yucatán – and two other neighbouring states – Chiapas and Tabasco.

Sedena is building the two pending routes, with seven stations, between Quintana Roo and Campeche.

The line has sparked polarised controversy between its supporters and critics over deforestation in Latin America’s second largest jungle massif after the Amazon, in an issue that has become a source of weariness for the region’s communities.

A Maya Train unit waits at Chichén Itzá station, home to the archaeological site of the same name in the southeastern Mexican state of Yucatán. Credit: Emilio Godoy / IPS

Pech shares the situation of thousands of people in the Yucatán peninsula, the inaccessibility of the railway and the generation of benefits, despite official promises, as IPS found during a tour of  section 3, from Calkiní (Campeche) to Izamal (Yucatán) and from there to Cancún (Quintana Roo), on  route 4.

This is in addition to the delay of the project and its cost overrun, which exceeds US$15 billion, 70% more than the initial estimate.

The train, intended for tourists, curious users and causing little enthusiasm among the local population, is empty in the larger stations, Mérida or Cancún, and passengers are scarce in the smaller ones, and does not include cargo, for now.

Between December 2023 and August, the TM carried 340,622 passengers, at a rate of 1,425 per day, according to official figures, on the 10 trains that currently run the routes, according to official data.

The tourist sites of Cancun, Merida (the Yucatan capital), Playa del Carmen, Valladolid and Palenque, which has an archaeological site, account for 80% of the passengers on the TM, which has suffered more than 20 accidents since it opened.

Although more international tourists have arrived at Merida airports or tourist destinations such as Cozumel between January and September this year, compared to the same period in 2023, it is difficult to link this to the effect of the new railway. Meanwhile, arrivals in Cancun fell by 1.5%.

Fares range from around three dollars for a one-station ride to a maximum of 156 dollars for a domestic visitor and 208 dollars for a foreign visitor, revenue that goes into the military coffers.

The Yucatán peninsula is home to the majority of the Maya population, one of Mexico’s 71 indigenous groups and one of the most culturally and historically representative in the country.

Mérida-Teya station in the southeastern Mexican state of Yucatán. Stops are located outside towns and cities, which makes mobility difficult due to a lack of alternatives and increases travel costs. Credit: Emilio Godoy / IPS

Someday…

In the municipality of Maxcanú – “place of the four monkeys” or “beard of Canul”, an indigenous chieftain, in the Mayan language – and some 65 kilometres from Mérida, Madelin Ortiz, a clothing shop owner, believes the train is beneficial, although she doesn’t use it and her business has not prospered yet.

“The prices are affordable, there are more visitors. There is a lack of trains, because there are few departures. There is not as much fluidity in the timetables. I’ve wanted to go to Cancún, but I haven’t been able to,” the 78-year-old shopkeeper, a married mother of four, told IPS.

But the town is not overflowing with visitors, although there are many locals celebrating the Jicama (Pachyrhizus erosus) Fair, a tuber known as the Mexican turnip.

As in other stations, Maxcanú has eight empty premises with signs such as “Food”, “Community Tourism” and “Handicrafts” waiting for shops. The same happens in Valladolid, and at the Mérida-Teya station on the outskirts of the capital, only two food shops operate, one offering TM souvenirs, another advertising a future bakery, and a car rental place.

A worker cleans the glass doors of community tourism and handicraft sales premises, which remain empty at the station in the municipality of Maxcanú, in the southeastern Mexican state of Yucatán. Stops have few shops, despite government offers to operate these spaces. Credit:Emilio Godoy / IPS

There are more idle times than busy ones with passengers at the station in Maxcanú, with just over 24,000 people. Four National Guard soldiers pass the time, along with three stray dogs, seeking the coolness of the station, fugitives from the sun, while five workers clean the place.

To avoid protests and urban disruption, Fonatur and Sedena built the stations on the outskirts of cities and towns, which makes it difficult to access them, due to their disconnection, and increases costs and journey times.

When he promoted the project, then president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who ruled between 2018 and last October, said the TM would support community tourism and that there would be spaces for craftspeople. But people like Alicia Pech are still waiting.

The government claims the train will bring thousands of tourists, create jobs, boost tourism beyond traditional visitor centres, and develop the regional economy, but there is no proof of this, especially since it does not carry cargo.

Permanent

There are wounds that never heal. The TM route has left cuts that mark the Mayan jungle, where there used to be trees, animals and plants. The project has faced accusations of deforestation, pollution, environmental damage and human rights violations.

Aerial view of the planned section 6, which runs from Tulum airport to Chetumal, in the southeastern state of Quintana Roo. Credit: Google Earth

Miguel Anguas, co-founder of the non-governmental organisation Kanan Derechos Humanos, says the TM creates a new territorial order causing harmful impacts, in some cases irreversible.

“The balance is clear.  The Maya do not manage it, nor do they operate it. From what we can see, the government is trying to keep the project from being derailed. People feel it is alien to them; it is the culmination of a process of dispossession,” he told IPS.

The construction cut down at least 11,485 hectares of jungle and emitted 470,750 tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, according to research by the government’s Yucatan Scientific Research Centre, made public in September.

In fact, the government paid itself to compensate for the logging.

The government’s National Forestry Commission paid 4.11 million dollars to 11 private landowners and 18 ejidos (public land assigned for collective use) for the destruction of 2,867 hectares in 2023, and 4.38 million to 40 private individuals and 15 ejidos for 2,827 hectares this year.

Compensation is a legal mechanism that allows for the restoration of one area for damage done to another.

To increase revenues and minimise losses, President Claudia Sheinbaum, in office since 1 October, plans to extend the route to Puerto Progreso, on the Yucatan coast north of Mérida, to move freight.

But the TM will continue to use resources, as the 2025 budget plans an allocation of US$ 2,173 million, both for the two lines under construction and to maintain those already in operation.

The Mexican government knew since 2022 that the mega-project would increase the initial budget.

The updated cost-benefit analysis, prepared that year by the private Mexican consulting firm Transconsult and obtained by IPS through an access to information request, concluded that the cost would be from two to four times more than the initial estimate.

“The stations were defined in terms of serving the greatest number of locations, thus covering the greatest amount of demand in the area,” the document states.

This implies losses for the TM, which would make a profit in the medium term.

While the TM struggles to advance, Pech and Ortiz fantasize that one day they will wait on the platform, see it arrive and board one of its cars.

Despite contributing just 0.02% of total greenhouse gas emissions, Pacific Island states are drowning in the consequences of others’ actions. Credit: UNICEF/Sokhin

By Ralph Regenvanu
PORT VILA, Vanuatu, Nov 29 2024 (IPS)

The climate crisis has become devastating across the world over the past few months: super typhoons sweeping through the Western Pacific, unprecedented superstorms in the Gulf of Mexico, raging wildfires across the Amazon rainforest, severe flooding in Central and Eastern Europe, just to mention a few. Rising seas and intensifying storms threaten to devastate communities and erase entire countries from the map.

For countries on the front line, like Vanuatu, urgent action to halt warming is essential. In the first part of 2023, we were struck by two category 4 cyclones within days of each other. In October of the same year, another category 4 storm struck our islands.

In the face of such slow progress, Vanuatu has led an initiative to speed up climate action. We took the climate crisis to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world’s highest court

This current year has been easier but the sea levels are still rising all the same and Vanuatu is projected to lose 25% of its gross domestic product (GDP) every year due to climate disasters. All the while, those responsible for the crisis continue to delay and resist the solutions that we already have at hand.

In 2015 the Paris Agreement set the course for governments to protect people and the planet and hold global warming to 1.5⁰C. The deal has led to some actions but, so far, no country is on track to meet this goal and only 10 countries are projected to come close.

The needs of countries that benefited the least from the past few centuries of uncurbed emissions have been sidelined as wealthier countries have not prioritised the emissions reductions needed.

Despite contributing just 0.02% of total greenhouse gas emissions, Pacific Island states are drowning in the consequences of others’ actions. A decade after Paris, governments like mine are still trying to prevent further harm while repairing the loss and damage that has already occurred.

In the face of such slow progress, Vanuatu has led an initiative to speed up climate action. We took the climate crisis to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world’s highest court.

Hon. Ralph Regenvanu

For the first time, the Court will confront the climate crisis, and is now tasked with preparing a new set of guidelines – a compass – to establish the obligations of countries to take action on climate change based on existing international laws. Its advisory opinion could overcome the political inertia that has delayed the lifesaving action we need.

This is the moment for the international justice system to require countries to recognise and correct the injustices of the climate crisis; acknowledging how carbon emissions are driving deadly weather events, and how polluting countries have failed to prevent the disasters that now plague us.

After the most recent round of U.N. climate change talks, a gap of USD 1 trillion gap needs to be closed between what poorer countries need and what wealthy countries are currently contributing to climate funding, to cover the costs of damages and the costs of preparation for the future impacts of the climate crisis.

The International Court of Justice gives us a platform where we, small island states, could finally overcome the power of wealthy countries, with the authority of international law to finally drive just climate action.

People around the world back this shift: 80% of citizens worldwide want more ambitious climate action to repair and revive our world. This is our chance to work together for a safe and healthy planet.

We do not yet know how the Court will decide. Some of the richest and most polluting countries would prefer not to be held accountable for deadly inaction.

For the Court to form a lifesaving opinion, countries must deliver powerful statements; their participation will be an important step in advocating for the ICJ’s guiding opinion. By collectively laying down the facts, we will be able to bridge the gap between countries’ current commitments and what is needed to restore and protect our homes.

For those of us overwhelmed by the impacts of the climate crisis, a strong ruling from the ICJ would offer hope. This opinion has the potential to become the most comprehensive tool to hold those responsible for the climate crisis accountable and help us restore what has already been lost.

Countries must own up to their responsibility. That means phasing out fossil fuel use, speeding up emissions cuts and paying for the damages that have already occurred due to their heavy reliance on fossil fuels.

I am confident that the ICJ’s opinion will become the guiding star to achieve this. The world needs governments, corporations and all major emitters to rise to the challenge of halting the climate crisis.

Whether we fail or succeed in navigating the oceans of global warming will determine the future of Vanuatu and all of us suffering from this crisis, those of us alive today and those yet to be born. Our children and grandchildren deserve to inherit a world where their rights and livelihoods are protected, not eroded by the reckless actions of previous generations. Now is the time for action.

Excerpt:

Ralph Regenvanu, Special Envoy for Climate Change and Environment of the Republic of Vanuatu

Dozens - perhaps hundreds - of West African troops who fought for France in World War Two were killed.