Vanuatu: a small island state changes international law

---

What Vanuatu did

In 2021, the Republic of Vanuatu, one of the countries most exposed to climate change, launched a campaign for the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion clarifying states' obligations on climate change, particularly concerning fairness between generations. The effort addressed a critical gap: states faced pressure to act, but there was uncertainty about their binding obligations to protect the environment for present and future generations.

How it Delivered

Vanuatu built a coalition of more than 130 co-sponsoring states, and in March 2023 the UN General Assembly took up the proposal and requested the advisory opinion. Delivered unanimously on 23 July 2025, the Opinion framed climate change as a legal issue, finding that states have binding duties to prevent foreseeable environmental harm, to exercise stringent due diligence including over private actors, to cooperate internationally, and to respect the rights of future generations. The Court held explicitly that the principle of intergenerational equity requires "due regard for the interests of future generations and the long-term implications of conduct", and that failing to act on climate change can constitute an internationally wrongful act, giving governments and courts a robust basis to justify climate action and hold states accountable.

What Made it Work?

Vanuatu turned vulnerability into moral authority and moral authority into legal strategy, building a coalition through the General Assembly rather than waiting for the largest powers to lead. The intergenerational framing gave the case its force: the question was posed in terms of what states owe those to come as well as what they owe each other in the present. That a bench of fifteen judges answered unanimously gave the result exceptional weight.

Future Generations Takeaway

One of the world's smallest states has reshaped the obligations of them all. Vanuatu's initiative shows that in international law, as elsewhere, the future has advocates, and they are gaining ground. Keeping the future open is now, in part, a matter of legal duty.

This case study is based on one kindly shared with us by the us by School of International Futures (SOIF) and can be found in their digital implementation handbook: 'One Year in Practice: Stories of Global Action for Future Generations'.  We have updated and expanded some case studies with more recent developments and additional sources where relevant.