In landmark opinion, the World Court says climate change is an ‘existential threat’
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Climate change ‘urgent and existential threat’: International Court of Justice
The biggest case ever heard at the International Court of Justice. Experts say the judges’ opinion could reshape climate justice. The push for a court opinion was spearheaded by the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. ICJ president Yuji Iwasawa said the consequences of climate change “are severe and far-reaching”
It is the biggest case ever heard at the International Court of Justice and experts say the judges’ opinion could reshape climate justice, with major impacts on laws around the world.
In opening remarks, ICJ president Yuji Iwasawa said the consequences of climate change “are severe and far-reaching: they affect both natural ecosystems and human populations”.
“These consequences underscore the urgent and existential threat posed by climate change,” he said.
The push for a court opinion was spearheaded by the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu amid growing frustration at sluggish progress in UN climate negotiations.
Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s climate change minister, said the ICJ ruling could be a “game-changer” in the fight against global warming.
“We’ve been going through this for 30 years… It’ll shift the narrative, which is what we need to have,” Regenvanu told AFP.
The United Nations has tasked the 15 judges at the ICJ, a UN court that adjudicates disputes between nations, to answer two fundamental questions.
First: what must states do under international law to protect the environment from greenhouse gas emissions “for present and future generations”?
Second: what are the consequences for states whose emissions have caused environmental harm, especially to vulnerable low-lying island states?
Microsoft server hack has now hit 400 victims, researchers say
The figure is derived from a count of digital artifacts discovered during scans of servers running vulnerable versions of Microsoft’s SharePoint software. The spy campaign kicked off after Microsoft failed to fully patch a security hole in its SharePoint server software. Microsoft and its tech rival, Google owner Alphabet (GOOGL.O) have both said Chinese hackers are among those taking advantage of the flaw.
The figure, which is derived from a count of digital artifacts discovered during scans of servers running vulnerable versions of Microsoft’s SharePoint software, compares to 100 organizations cataloged over the weekend. Eye Security says the figure is likely an undercount.
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“There are many more, because not all attack vectors have left artifacts that we could scan for,” said Vaisha Bernard, the chief hacker for Eye Security, which was among the first organizations to flag the breaches.
The spy campaign kicked off after Microsoft failed to fully patch a security hole in its SharePoint server software, kicking off a scramble to fix the vulnerability when it was discovered. Microsoft and its tech rival, Google owner Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab , have both said Chinese hackers are among those taking advantage of the flaw. Beijing has denied the claim.
The details of most of the victim organizations have not yet been fully disclosed. Bernard declined to identify them.
Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Jan Harvey and Mark Porter
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In landmark opinion, the World Court says climate change is an ‘existential threat’
The non-binding opinion by the International Court of Justice is likely to determine the course of future climate action across the world. “Greenhouse gas emissions are unequivocally caused by human activities which are not territorially limited,” judge Yuji Iwasawa said. The reading of the opinion was ongoing and the court had not yet announced its conclusions. “It could be one of the most consequential legal rulings of our times because of the scope of the issues that it touches,” said Joie Chowdhury, senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law. In 2015, at the conclusion of U.N. talks in Paris, more than 190 countries committed to pursue efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) The Paris Agreement has failed to curb the growth of global greenhouse gas emissions, the United Nations said last year. The ruling could also make it easier for states to hold other states to account over climate issues like pollution or emissions, especially by major emitters.
Item 1 of 5 The Dragon Bravo Fire burns on the northern rim as seen from Grandeur Point on the southern rim of Grand Canyon, Arizona, U.S. July 14, 2025. REUTERS/David Swanson/File Photo
Summary
Companies ICJ opinion could influence global climate litigation
U.N. treaties should guide responsibilities, rich countries say
South, small island states seek firm measures to curb emissions
THE HAGUE, July 23 (Reuters) – The United Nations’ highest court on Wednesday underlined “the urgent and existential threat posed by climate change” as it started to read out an opinion on the legal obligations of states to take action.
The non-binding opinion by the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, is likely to determine the course of future climate action across the world.
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“Greenhouse gas emissions are unequivocally caused by human activities which are not territorially limited,” judge Yuji Iwasawa said. The reading of the opinion was ongoing and the court had not yet announced its conclusions.
Ahead of the ruling, supporters of climate action gathered outside the ICJ, chanting: “What do we want? Climate justice! When do we want it? Now!”
Although it is non-binding, the deliberation of the 15 judges of the ICJ in The Hague will nevertheless carry legal and political weight and future climate cases would be unable to ignore it, legal experts say.
“It is so important, it could be one of the most consequential legal rulings of our times because of the scope of the issues that it touches, which run to the very heart of climate justice,” said Joie Chowdhury, senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law.
The two questions the U.N. General Assembly asked the judges to consider were: what are countries’ obligations under international law to protect the climate from greenhouse gas emissions; and what are the legal consequences for countries that harm the climate system?
In two weeks of hearings last December at the ICJ, wealthy countries of the Global North told the judges that existing climate treaties, including the 2015 Paris Agreement, which are largely non-binding, should be the basis for deciding their responsibilities.
Developing nations and small island states argued for stronger measures, in some cases legally binding, to curb emissions and for the biggest emitters of climate-warming greenhouse gases to provide financial aid.
PARIS AGREEMENT
In 2015, at the conclusion of U.N. talks in Paris, more than 190 countries committed to pursue efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
The agreement has failed to curb the growth of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Late last year, in the most recent “Emissions Gap Report,” which takes stock of countries’ promises to tackle climate change compared with what is needed, the U.N. said that current climate policies will result in global warming of more than 3 C (5.4 F) above pre-industrial levels by 2100.
As campaigners seek to hold companies and governments to account, climate‑related litigation has intensified, with nearly 3,000 cases filed across almost 60 countries, according to June figures from London’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
So far, the results have been mixed.
A German court in May threw out a case between a Peruvian farmer and German energy giant RWE (RWEG.DE) , opens new tab , but his lawyers and environmentalists said the case, which dragged on for a decade, was still a victory for climate cases that could spur similar lawsuits.
Earlier this month, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which holds jurisdiction over 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries, said in another advisory opinion its members must cooperate , opens new tab to tackle climate change.
Campaigners say Wednesday’s court opinion should be a turning point, even if the ruling itself is advisory.
The ruling could also make it easier for states to hold other states to account over climate issues like pollution or emissions.
“The court can affirm that climate inaction, especially by major emitters, is not merely a policy failure but a breach of international law,” said Fijian Vishal Prasad, one of the law students that lobbied the government of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean to bring the case to the ICJ.
Although it is theoretically possible to ignore an ICJ ruling, lawyers say countries are typically reluctant to do so.
“This opinion is applying binding international law, which countries have already committed to,” Chowdhury said.
Additional reporting by Ali Withers in Copenhagen and Zoran Mikletic, Marta Fiorin, Farah Salhi in The Hague; Writing by Stephanie van den Berg and Ingrid Melander, editing by Ed Osmond and Barbara Lewis
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Thailand recalls ambassador to Cambodia amid border tensions, ruling party says
Thailand has recalled its ambassador to Cambodia and will expel Cambodia’s ambassador. The move follows a landmine incident that injured a Thai soldier along the disputed border between the two countries. The Thai Foreign Ministry has lodged a formal protest with Cambodia, saying the landmines found in the area were newly deployed. The government has also ordered the closure of all border checkpoints under the jurisdiction of Thailand’s Second Army, the ruling Pheu Thai Party said on social media. Cambodia’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
BANGKOK, July 23 (Reuters) – Thailand has recalled its ambassador to Cambodia and will expel Cambodia’s ambassador, the ruling Pheu Thai Party said on Wednesday following a landmine incident that injured a Thai soldier along the disputed border between the two countries.
The Thai Foreign Ministry has lodged a formal protest with Cambodia, saying the landmines found in the area were newly deployed and had not been encountered during previous patrols, the party said on social media.
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Thailand has downgraded diplomatic relations with Cambodia, it said.
Cambodia’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its government spokesperson referred Reuters to the foreign ministry.
Thailand’s foreign ministry said it had yet to be informed of the decision to recall the Thai envoy and the plan to expel Cambodia’s ambassador.
The government has also ordered the closure of all border checkpoints under the jurisdiction of Thailand’s Second Army, the Pheu Thai Party said.
“Tourists are strictly prohibited from entering these border areas,” it said.
In the landmine incident on Wednesday, the soldier sustained injuries and lost his right leg, the party said.
Earlier, Thailand accused Cambodia of placing landmines on the Thai side of the disputed border area after three soldiers were injured, but Phnom Penh denied the claim and said the soldiers had veered off agreed routes and triggered a mine left behind from decades of war.
Thai authorities said the soldiers were injured, with one losing a foot, by a landmine while on a patrol on July 16 on the Thai side of the disputed border area between Ubon Ratchathani and Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Province.
Cambodia’s foreign ministry denied that new mines had been planted, and said in a statement on Monday night that the Thai soldiers deviated from agreed patrol routes into Cambodian territory and into areas that contain unexploded landmines.
The country is littered with landmines laid during decades of war.
Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Orathai Sriring; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Ed Osmond
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Iberdrola raises $5.9 billion to fund growth in US, Britain
Europe’s largest utility Iberdrola (IBE.MC) raised five billion euros ($5.87 billion) through a capital increase. The company plans to step up annual investments to around 15 billion euros from around 12 billion euros. The cash raised will help fund a new strategy to be set out in September. No further equity raises are expected until at least the end of the decade, the company said in a call with analysts. It also said first-half net profit declined 14% from a year earlier to 3.56 billion euros, when results were boosted by the inclusion of the sale of gas assets in Mexico. It will invest some 55 billion euros in power grids, more than 80% in the U.S. and Britain.
Summary
Companies Iberdrola plans to expand focus on power grids in US, Britain
Capital increase took analysts by surprise, they say
Annual investments will increase to 15 billion euros from 12 billion
Shares trade 3.3% lower after suspension lifted
MADRID, July 23 (Reuters) – Europe’s largest utility Iberdrola (IBE.MC) , opens new tab raised five billion euros ($5.87 billion) through a capital increase on Wednesday to help pay for a big rise in investments in power grids in Britain and the United States.
The company plans to step up annual investments to around 15 billion euros from around 12 billion euros, building on its shift towards upgrading and expanding power grids in countries where returns are steady and healthy, such as the U.S. and Britain.
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In the next six years, it will invest some 55 billion euros in power grids, more than 80% in these two countries as they offer “an unprecedented investment opportunity,” Executive Chairman Ignacio Sanchez Galan said in a call with analysts.
The roughly 331 million new shares offered through a process of accelerated bookbuilding were priced at 15.15 euros and the order book was 3.8 times oversubscribed by existing shareholders and new investors, Iberdrola said.
The price was a 4.7% discount versus the 15.895 euros Iberdrola’s shares closed at on Tuesday.
Iberdrola shares fell 3.3% after the Spanish stock market regulator lifted a suspension imposed before the market opened on Wednesday.
The planned uplift in investment represents a 75% increase over the previous six years.
As a result, the value of Iberdrola’s grid assets, whose returns are regulated and guaranteed, will top 90 billion euros by 2031 – 75% of which will be in Britain and the U.S. – from 55 billion euros this year and just 30 billion euros at the beginning of the decade.
The weight of its Spanish home market in the network business is set to decline significantly, as a share of both investments and regulated assets.
Spanish utilities have recently warned that the country risked losing critical investments in grids to other countries as the remuneration on grid assets proposed by regulators was set below what they expect.
“The draft proposal, in my opinion, is providing a clear negative signal to the market,” Galan said.
The cash raised by Iberdrola’s capital increase, along with debt, operating cash flow, asset sales and partnerships, will help fund a new strategy to be set out in September. No further equity raises are expected until at least the end of the decade, Galan said.
The issue, though unexpected, was of a scale expected to be digested by the market, Citi analysts said in a note.
Iberdrola also said first-half net profit declined 14% from a year earlier to 3.56 billion euros, when results were boosted by the inclusion of the sale of gas assets in Mexico.
($1 = 0.8523 euros)
Reporting by Pietro Lombardi, editing by Inti Landauro, Louise Heavens and Elaine Hardcastle
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