HAMBURG, Germany — A U.N. tribunal on maritime law said Tuesday that countries are legally required to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, delivering a long-awaited opinion sought by small island nations that are on the front lines of climate change.
It was the first ruling to come in three cases in which advisory opinions have been sought from international courts about climate change. “The opinion is a clarification of international legal obligations,” said Joie Chowdhury, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law. “States parties to the convention have the specific obligations to take all necessary measures to prevent, reduce and control marine pollution from anthropogenic emissions,” Judge Albert Hoffmann told a packed courtroom in Hamburg, where the tribunal is based.