How 27 Pacific law students took climate change to the World Court — and won legal history
In 2019, 27 law students in Vanuatu sat in a classroom watching sea-level rise consume Pacific shorelines and decided to ask a simple legal question:
"Could a country be held responsible under international law for wrecking the climate?"
What started as a student initiative (Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change) grew into a massive international campaign. They convinced Pacific leaders to take the cause forward, secured backing at the UN General Assembly, and brought the case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
Their fight helped trigger an unprecedented wave of climate litigation globally—establishing that nations and major fossil-fuel polluters owe a legal duty of care to protect basic human rights against environmental catastrophe.
Their story is featured in a new short documentary titled All Rise! (produced by Open Planet Studios / Wellcome). It's a reminder of what grassroots legal activism can achieve against all odds.