Developed countries including the UK face a legal claim of hundreds of billions of pounds to compensate poorer nations for damage from storms and rising seas caused by climate damage.
A coalition of island nations, led by Antigua and Barbuda and Tuvalu, is preparing to launch a case at the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
Early next year they plan to seek an advisory ruling that countries with high historical emissions are liable to pay compensation for the damage they suffer because of climate change. If it succeeds they will file claims.
They say that they have made little contribution to global warming and the “polluter pays” principle should apply.
Molwyn Joseph, environment minister of Antigua and Barbuda, who is representing the Alliance of Small Island States at COP26, said that his islands faced worse hurricanes and were entitled to compensation, not charity.
He said that after Hurricane Irma had caused damage totaling more than £170 million to Barbuda in 2017, his government had appealed for international aid but received only a fraction of the amount needed to rebuild.
“When damage is done, experts must come in and do their assessment to establish liability,” he said.
Scientists are confident that they can link specific extreme weather events to climate change and show that they were made much more likely and severe by emissions caused by humans.
Campaigners have estimated that in 2030 vulnerable nations will need at least $300 billion to cover loss and damage due to climate change.
GWPF Editor’s note: Lawyers and officials concerned about the ruinous implications of government-sponsored climate hysteria are welcome to study the GWPF’s reports that scrutinize so-called ‘climate attribution’ methods and statistics on which the multi-billion compensation claims are based.
* The climate blame game: Are we really causing extreme weather? (pdf)
* How the IPCC sees what isn’t there (pdf)
There is no compulsory international court. The International Court of Justice is voluntary and there is no mechanism to enforce its rulings. However, considering the incompetence of Boris Johnson the UK might voluntarily go along with a ruling.
A valid court case would find that extreme weather events are not increasing.