Paragraph 363 Of The International Court Of Justice Advisory Opinion Of 23 July 2025: Or Micromegas At The Hague Court
- IJLLR Journal
- Oct 7
- 1 min read
Jacques Bellezit, University of Strasbourg
ABSTRACT
The advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of July 23, 2025, on “State Obligations in Relation to Climate Change” explores, in a milestone legal decision, the legal obligations of states to protect the climate system from human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.
Indeed, the ICJ unanimously stated that climate change treaties, customary international law, and treaties protecting the environment and biodiversity impose binding obligations on States.
Without disregarding the main part of the advisory opinion, this article will follow the steps of Voltaire’s philosophical tale “Micromégas”, and, like the namesake character, focus on the small and particular paragraph n°363 of this advisory opinion.
Indeed, within the milestone and massive legal document setting what the “State Obligations in Relation to Climate Change” are, the World Court may have sparked an ontological crisis of what “a territory” is in international law.
