INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

This written submission addresses the second question in the request of the United Nations General Assembly for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the obligations of States in respect of climate change1 concerning the legal consequences for States that have caused significant harm to the climate system and other parts of the environment, vis-a-vis States, peoples, and i. [...] Conduct attributable to a State under international law includes acts or omissions: of organs of the State;18 of persons or entities exercising elements of governmental authority;19 of organs placed at the disposal of the State by another State and exercising elements of the governmental authority of the former State;20 of organs, persons, or entities exercising elements of the governmental author. [...] A State that aids or assists another State in the commission of an internationally wrongful act, with knowledge of the circumstances of the internationally wrongful act, or which directs, controls, or coerces another State in the commission of an internationally wrongful act, and in circumstances in which the act would be internationally wrongful if committed by the former State, is internationall. [...] The law of State responsibility contemplates defenses that a State may invoke to justify or excuse the breach of an international obligation or otherwise preclude its wrongfulness,41 such as the consent of the other State or States concerned to the breach,42 or necessity.43 The latter requires showing that the impugned acts and omissions that breach international obligations were, both individuall. [...] The lawfulness of the State conduct in question under the domestic law of the State has no bearing on whether it constitutes an internationally wrongful act.46 What is salient is whether the impugned State conduct violates an international obligation of the State.