Legal Consequences of Obligations Erga Omnes in the Context of Climate Change: Some Observations on State Responsibility in the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change

Abstract Notably, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in its advisory opinion of 2025, recognized the erga omnes character of the obligations pertaining to the protection of the environment from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The interpretation of the ICJ could potentially open the way for community interest litigation to invoke state responsibility for an alleged breach of obligations relating to climate change. At the same time, an international court or tribunal will face the particular issues of state responsibility regarding climate change. Thus this article examines in particular three issues: (1) the erga omnes character of obligations relating to climate change, (2) the locus standi to invoke state responsibility in the context of climate change, and (3) temporality, attribution, causation, and reparation in state responsibility for an alleged breach of obligations relating to climate change.