On 23 July 2025, the International Court of Justice delivered its first-ever Advisory Opinion on climate change, affirming that states have binding legal obligations to prevent significant harm to the climate system. The opinion clarifies that continued fossil fuel production and subsidies may constitute internationally wrongful acts, and reframes the 1.5°C target under the Paris Agreement as a legal obligation rather than a policy choice.

This landmark ruling originated from a youth-led campaign initiated by law students from the University of the South Pacific and championed by Vanuatu, which led to the UN General Assembly formally requesting the opinion in 2023.

For Asia, home to some of the world's most fossil-fuel-dependent economies and regions highly vulnerable to climate impacts, this opinion carries big implications. The ICJ's opinion offers civil society, workers, and affected communities a powerful new legal lens to hold governments accountable. 

World's Youth for Climate Justice's Asian Front convenes this webinar to mark the opinion's anniversary, bringing together youth across Southeast, South and East Asia who are uniquely positioned, both as those most affected by delayed action and as active advocates, to translate these legal clarifications into real accountability and policy pressure at national and regional levels.