Key Messages Briefing Note for the UN Ocean Conference 2025

This briefing note from the Center for International Environmental Law outlines the legal obligations of States to protect the ocean from climate change by halting fossil fuel expansion and phasing out their use. It highlights the significance of climate advisory opinions from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in establishing these duties.

• The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) 2024 Advisory Opinion establishes that anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are a form of marine pollution. Consequently, States have a legal duty to prevent, reduce, and control this pollution using a stringent, objective standard of due diligence based on the best available science. This obligation implies a necessary phaseout of fossil fuels, including offshore oil and gas, and extends to corporate accountability where private entities are involved. Furthermore, the ITLOS opinion clarifies that the Paris Agreement is not the sole source of State obligations, as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea also applies.
• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is expected to issue an advisory opinion in the summer of 2025 regarding State duties to protect the climate system and the legal consequences of breaching those duties. Key arguments in this case include that climate obligations are defined by a broad range of laws beyond climate treaties, including human rights treaties and customary international law. The proceedings emphasize the application of the preventive and precautionary principles to phase out fossil fuels and address the impacts of sea level rise on territorial integrity, self-determination, and permanent sovereignty over natural resources. Requested remedies include compensation for loss and damage, technological assistance, and the restoration of ecosystems like mangroves and coral reefs.
• Under human rights law, States are obligated to protect the marine environment and coastal communities from GHG emissions and climate change effects, rooted in the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment (R2HE). The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has previously recognized that the R2HE protects the environment for the international community and future generations, specifically identifying small island developing States and coastal areas as highly vulnerable. The Court has also emphasized the duty of States to regulate and punish human rights violations by private enterprises. A further advisory opinion from this Court is expected in the summer of 2025.
• Climate change and sea level rise pose an existential threat to low-lying island States, specifically threatening their territorial integrity and the right of their peoples to exist as independent nations. For the peoples of Melanesia, the loss of ancestral territories due to rising seas is described as being equivalent to collective death.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2025). Key Messages Briefing Note for the UN Ocean Conference 2025. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Climate-Advisory-Opinions_Key-Messages-Briefing-Note-for-the-UN-Ocean-Conference-2025.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Key Messages Briefing Note for the UN Ocean Conference 2025. 2025. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Climate-Advisory-Opinions_Key-Messages-Briefing-Note-for-the-UN-Ocean-Conference-2025.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Key Messages Briefing Note for the UN Ocean Conference 2025 |date=June 2025 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Climate-Advisory-Opinions_Key-Messages-Briefing-Note-for-the-UN-Ocean-Conference-2025.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2025key, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Key Messages Briefing Note for the UN Ocean Conference 2025}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Climate-Advisory-Opinions_Key-Messages-Briefing-Note-for-the-UN-Ocean-Conference-2025.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }