‘Bonkers' UN court ruling may allow countries to sue each other for climate reparations
The International Court of Justice ruling paves the way for poorer nations to launch multi-billion Pound compensation cases against rich powers like Britain.
2
The move sparked fury last night, with the Tories branding the top UN court's proclamation 'insane' and Reform UK warning it hands a blank cheque to foreign governments.
Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho said: 'We have to put Britain's interests first.
'The Government must make clear it sees no basis for this ruling to be acted upon.'
Reform UK's Richard Tice fumed: 'This is another bonkers non-binding advisory judgment by the ICJ.
'They absurdly said we should give up the Chagos islands.
'They just hate us.'
The judges said governments can be held responsible for climate damage — even if it stems from historic emissions pumped out decades ago.
The court's opinion is non-binding, but legal experts say it could trigger real-world lawsuits as early as next week.
The legal case was cooked up by law students from Pacific islands who claimed wealthy countries failed them.
Flora Vano from Vanuatu island, said: 'The ICJ has recognised what we have lived through — our suffering, resilience and right to our future.'
Keir Starmer's deranged drive for Net Zero with eco-zealot Ed Miliband is a threat to UK's national security- here's why
The UK and others argued deals, such as the 2015 Paris Agreement, were enough but the court rejected that.
Judge Iwasawa Yuji ruled not hitting the toughest climate targets would breach international law and said even countries outside the Paris pact must still protect the planet.
He admitted it would be hard to determine who caused which part of climate change.
Natural disasters, such as the 6.5-magnitude earthquake in Colombia in June, have also been linked to climate change.
The ICJ's previous advisory ruling to hand back the Chagos Island to Mauritius was followed by the UK.
2
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
MIKEY SMITH: I followed Donald Trump around Scotland - and one thing was oddly missing
There was plenty of golf being played during his visit to the White House's Scottish branch office. But there was something - or someone - curiously conspicuous by their absence I've spent quite a lot of time looking at Donald Trump over a hedge this week - and one thing was curiously missing. There was plenty of golf being played during his visit to the White House's Scottish branch office. Some beautiful scenery. Some late-night Truth Social posts. But the faint smell of cigarette smoke and sound of raspy, Kentish laughter was absent. It's hard to say whether Nigel Farage's no-show at Turnberry this weekend was a snub by Trump to a man who's been slowly edging out of his orbit in the last few months. Alternatively, it could have been a calculated move by Farage because the US President's Epstein difficulties are - even by Nigel's standards - making him too toxic. If it's the latter, Trump will have done himself no favours today - but more of that later. Standing in front of a live TV camera with Donald Trump is always a risky move. So whatever possessed Keir Starmer to agree to do it twice in a day is quite beyond me. That said - other than a handful of awkward moments in what seemed like hours of on-camera questioning - Starmer seems to have emerged from his visit to Trumpworld, South Ayrshire, largely unscathed. Aside from the incredibly loud bagpipes drowning most of it out, his arrival at Turnberry could hardly have gone better. Trump praised the PM to the high heavens. And his wife. And his immigration policies. Trump offered to discuss scrapping tariffs on Scotch Whisky - even suggesting he could break a lifetime of sobriety by trying some for himself. There were some slightly awkward expressions when the President complained - again - that nobody had said thankyou for the aid the US had sent to Gaza. But Starmer seems to have convinced him to take our side rather than Benjamin Netanyahu's. "You have to get the kids fed," before moving on to "phase two" in Gaza. Phase two presumably meaning the conversion of Gaza into the Vegas of the Middle East, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. The sticky moments were very few. Trump branded Sadiq Khan a "nasty person" - probably giving an instant boost to his approval numbers in London, where Trump fans are few and far between. Nevertheless, it prompted Starmer, doing his best Hugh Grant, to lean towards the Donald, touch his arm and declare Sadiq a "friend". Nigel Farage only got the briefest of mentions - Trump called him a friend and said he was doing "very well." And then, after a weekend of (mostly) managing to avoid the E-word, it only took a couple of questions from the admitted media to set Trump off. "It's a hoax," he insisted of the files - suggesting that if anything in them makes him look bad, then it's "phony" and has been planted there by his enemies. But in the middle of all this there was a sliver of actual new information - potentially quite a significant one for people following this story. Trump claimed the reason he fell out with Epstein in the early 00s was because the notorious paedophile kept stealing his staff and he'd had enough of it. It may be entirely unrelated, but Epstein's most well-known victim, Virginia Giuffre, then 16, was working for Donald Trump at Mar A Lago in 2000 when she was recruited by Maxwell to be a 'masseuse' for Epstein. All that was left after the two rounds of grilling and a brief closed-doors meeting was to head to Prestwick airport and hop on Air Force One. Because not only is Starmer having a two-Trump press conference day, he's having a two-Trump golf courses day. The trip to Aberdeenshire will be his first aboard Trump's airborne White House. Hopefully he'll bring us back some of the infamous AF1 branded M&Ms.
Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Starmer appoints diversity tsar to advise on knighthoods
Sir Keir Starmer has appointed a diversity tsar to make sure the honours system reflects the 'full richness' of British society. Moni Mannings, the founder of a network that aims to empower people of colour, will head a new committee tasked with ensuring that honours are handed to people 'from all walks of life'. Announcing her appointment on Monday, the Cabinet Office said she would help deliver an honours system that was 'representative of the United Kingdom'. Ms Mannings, a qualified solicitor, received an OBE for services to cultural philanthropy, business and charity last year. She is the founder of EPOC, a network that seeks to boost the number of people of colour on company boards. She currently serves on the board of the Co-operative Group, whose supermarkets decided to stop sourcing goods from Israel earlier this year after identifying it as one of 17 'countries of concern'. The list, which also featured Iran, included places where the company believed there to be 'internationally recognised' human rights abuses and violations of international law. At the time, Debbie White, who chairs the Co-op board, said the policy was a 'clear demonstration of our co-operative values in action, where the voices of our members have been listened to and then acted upon'. 'We are committed, where we can, to removing products and ingredients from our shelves which are sourced from those countries where the international consensus demonstrates there is not alignment with what happens in those countries and our co-operative values and principles,' she said. The new honours, diversity and outreach committee will include a member of each of the 10 existing expert panels that recommend people for gongs in specialist areas such as sport, education and political service. The idea is to help these committees deliver an honours system that is 'representative of UK society' through a programme of 'policy improvements and interventions'. The diversity and outreach committee's work will be 'guided by the Prime Minister's strategic priorities for the honours system', with the members advising 'how these are reflected in each honours list '. Ms Mannings will serve as its independent chair for five years, with her term ending in July 2030. In a statement, she said: 'I am delighted to accept my appointment as the independent chair of this new committee. 'The honours system is one of our nation's most visible mechanisms not only for celebrating individual contribution but also of promoting our society's values. 'Recognising excellence from all walks of life isn't just a symbolic act – it is how we tell our national story. I would be privileged to play a role in ensuring that the honours system reflects and celebrates the full richness of our society.'
Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Telegraph
An extended rebuke for Sir Keir from President Trump
Even though Donald Trump's meeting at his Turnberry golf course with Sir Keir Starmer took place on British soil, it was clear from the tee-off who was in charge. Before the two men sat down for lunch, the President made courteous comments about the Prime Minister, but barely allowed him to get a word in. While Sir Keir seemed desperate for a gesture on Gaza to appease his mutinous party, Mr Trump was able to play the part of peacemaker, engaged in solving 'at least six' global conflicts. Tub-thumpers who focus exclusively on the Palestinian cause were reminded that theirs is not the only crisis. That much more than an ocean separates these two men and their views became clear at their press conference. Mr Trump is appalled by the dark satanic 'windmills' that have spoilt the view from his 18th hole at Turnberry. Sir Keir's policy is to build many more of them, in the vain pursuit of net zero. But to beat Nigel Farage, Mr Trump advised, he needs 'the lowest energy prices and the best kinds of energy' – by which he meant not only resuming North Sea oil and gas exploration, but fracking on land too. On energy, taxation, immigration and crime, the president delivered what amounted to an extended rebuke to Britain's hapless Prime Minister. It must have been hard enough for Sir Keir, having recently raised taxes to record levels, to hear a prediction that 'the one who cuts taxes the most' will win the next election. Entirely unexpected, though, was for Mr Trump to single out Labour's imposition of inheritance tax on farmers, contrasting this with his own lifting of estate taxes on US farms. For Sir Keir, this nightmarish press conference went from bad to worse. The president insisted that he had won last year's election on immigration and 'I don't think this country is any different'. The Prime Minister, he was generous enough to say, had become 'strong on the toughness on immigration', but the facts speak for themselves. Illegal migration is unchecked and tensions are rising. Sir Keir had no answer to Mr Trump and none to the British public, either. Equally awkward for him was the moment when the president turned on Sadiq Khan: ' I think he's done a terrible job, the Mayor of London. He's a nasty person. ' The Prime Minister interrupted: 'He's a friend of mine.' But Mr Trump was unabashed. Under Labour, London's reputation abroad has collapsed. Whatever we may think of Donald Trump, he left Sir Keir floundering. If Britain is ever to stand tall again, it will need a Prime Minister who does not need lessons from the occupant of the White House. Unfortunately for the rest of us, this one obviously does.
