Source: Radio New Zealand
Climate activists gathered outside the International Court of Justice in July last year after the court issued its opinion finding countries could be held legally responsible for their greenhouse gas emissions. Jamie Tahana
A United Nations resolution backing the findings of a landmark climate change ruling has been passed with the support of most countries, including New Zealand.
Countries met overnight at the UN General Assembly in New York overnight to decide whether to endorse an International Court of Justice (ICJ) opinion issued last year, which found that countries can be held legally responsible for their greenhouse gas emissions.
It passed with 141 countries in favour, 8 against, and 28 abstentions.
The resolution was proposed by Vanuatu and was co-sponsored by more than 60 countries, including many Pacific nations that are already threatened by sea-level rise.
New Zealand did not sign on as a co-sponsor and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials would not share New Zealand’s position ahead of the vote.
However, a voting breakdown confirms that New Zealand was among countries to vote in favour.
The eight states voting against the resolution were Belarus, Iran, Israel, Liberia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Yemen.
New Zealand is among the 141 countries that voted in favour of a resolution recognising and endorsing the ICJ opinion on climate change obligations. Supplied / Screenshot
New Zealand co-sponsored the original resolution in 2023 that asked the ICJ to issue the opinion on states’ climate change obligations.
Ahead of the vote, Environmental Law Initiative researcher Eliza Prestidge-Oldfield told RNZ that one of the crucial findings of the ICJ opinion was that countries must exercise strict “due diligence” in lowering their emissions.
“[It’s] saying you actually have to try really, really hard. You can’t just say, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll get to that later.’”
A UN resolution endorsing it “would be a really strong statement that we expect all countries to be doing the best they can on climate change”.
The ICJ opinion would still be the “authoritative legal statement” on states’ obligations even if the resolution had not passed, Prestidge-Oldfield said.
That meant it would carry weight in both international and domestic legal decisions on climate change issues, regardless of which states endorsed it.
However, the passing of the resolution would help to translate the opinion into practical, political action.
“In lay terms … it’s the political seal of recognition of the [ICJ] decision.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/21/un-resolution-backing-landmark-climate-change-ruling-passes/