The United Nations’ highest court on Wednesday ruled that wealthy countries must comply with their commitments to curb fossil fuels and pollution or risk being held financially liable by nations hit the hardest by climate change. 

The 15-member U.N. International Court of Justice said that treaties compel rich nations to curb global warming and that the countries were also responsible for the actions of companies under their jurisdiction or control, Reuters reported. 

“States must cooperate to achieve concrete emission reduction targets,” Judge Yuji Iwasawa said at The Hague. “Greenhouse gas emissions are unequivocally caused by human activities which are not territorially limited.”

Tuvalu delegation arrives for the United Nations’ top court International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s public hearings in an advisory opinion case, that may become a reference point in defining countries’ legal obligations to fight climate change, in The Hague, Netherlands, December 2 2024.  (REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo)

“This is a victory for our planet, for climate justice, and for the power of young people to make a difference,” he said. “The world must respond.”

Wednesday’s ruling was hailed by a number of small nation states. 

“I didn’t expect it to be this good,” said Ralph Regenvanu, the climate minister for the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu.

Many developing nations and small island states have said they are at great risk from rising sea levels. Some have sought clarification from the court after the 2015 Paris Agreement failure to curb the growth of global greenhouse gas emissions.