The U.N. Could Have a Secret Legal Weapon to Fight Climate Change

Jeff D. Colgan

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Long a matter of political disputes, how to address climate change is increasingly becoming a legal question. Most recently, on March 29, the United Nations General Assembly voted to seek a legal opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the matter. To date, international law has offered those facing the greatest hardships from climate change few legal tools to sue polluters or receive funds to help adapt to threatening weather changes. An obscure U.N. treaty from the 1970s could potentially change all that.