The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly endorsed the International Court of Justice’s landmark advisory opinion on climate change Wednesday, voting 141-8 to declare that nations have a legal obligation to protect the planet from mounting environmental harm. The nonbinding resolution, which urges states to act on the court’s findings, passed despite an aggressive diplomatic push by the Trump administration to have the measure withdrawn or watered down, according to diplomats and U.N. officials.
“The world’s highest court has spoken. Today, the General Assembly has answered,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement. “This is a powerful affirmation of international law, climate justice, science, and the responsibility of states to protect people from the escalating climate crisis.”
Vanuatu’s ambassador to the U.N., Odo Tevi, whose Pacific island nation originally spearheaded the push for the court’s opinion, said the ruling means “the era of impunity for climate destruction is over” and urged countries to “act with the urgency the crisis demands.”
The United States, which opposed the resolution along with Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, argued that the measure did not reflect the differing capacities of nations. “While we support portions of this resolution, we consider others to be overly prescriptive,” said Tammy Bruce, a U.S. diplomat, adding that the United States is already taking steps to address climate change through domestic policies. The U.S. had previously lobbied Vanuatu to withdraw the draft resolution, part of a broader pattern of Trump administration pushback against international climate cooperation. Twenty-eight countries abstained from Wednesday’s vote.