Archive List for global environmental crisis

UN agrees on role for Int’l Court of Justice in climate change

The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution proposed by the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu to seek an opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on what legal obligations nations are under to protect climate systems and people affected by climate change. Co-sponsored by 132 countries at the UN, the resolution was adopted on Wednesday by a consensus. The UN is now empowered to seek the ICJ’s opinion on what countries’ legal obligations are to protect current and future generations from climate change. The court’s opinion will be non-binding but could help in future climate negotiations and lawsuits. Al Jazeera’s James Bays reports from the United […]

UN report: Ozone layer slowly healing, set to mend within decades

Earth’s protective ozone layer is healing at a pace that will fully mend the hole over Antarctica in about 43 years, a United Nations report has found. The scientific assessment conducted every four years found a recovery in progress, more than 35 years after every nation in the world agreed to stop producing chemicals that deplete the ozone layer in the Earth’s atmosphere. The layer shields the planet from harmful radiation linked to skin cancer, cataracts and crop damage. The progress is slow, according to the report presented on Monday at the American Meteorological Society convention in Denver. The global average amount of ozone 30km (18 miles) high in the […]