We need a global environmental court – and we need it now

With temperatures set to dramatically exceed the critical 1.5°C limit of warming above pre-industrial levels, our planet is in a state of climate emergency. Our ability to withstand the environmental onslaught is being pushed to the brink, particularly in small island states like my home country of Trinidad and Tobago and other vulnerable nations.

Recognising this urgency, United Nations member states have requested an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the climate obligations of individual nations. Governments could use its advice to understand and legislate their own moral duties, but they aren’t legally bound…