Major economies welcome 'milestone' ICJ climate ruling

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday declared that states were obliged under international law to tackle climate change, and failing to do so could leave them open to being sued. The ICJ said climate change was an "urgent and existential threat" and countries had a legal duty to prevent harm from their planet-warming pollution. Countries breaching their climate obligations were committing a "wrongful act", the court said in its advisory opinion, which is not legally binding but carries political and legal weight.