The Laws of Nature Meet the International Court of Justice

By Hook or By Crook

Photo by Jamie Matocinos on Unsplash

It was never arbitrary and now it is has been made universal law. The limits to our stable environment which were modelled and set at COP21 in 2015 were officially outlined by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on June 23, 2025. “This is a victory for our planet for climate justice and for the power of young people to make a difference,” says UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “So what?” says my spouse. “None of this matters with Trump in power. Look at what is happening in Gaza right now, the USA doesn’t care about International Law.” “You and I are both right”, I replied.

I cannot deny the atrocities and climate harms being perpetrated today. But 1.5 degrees warming and other biogeophysical limits will persist no matter our approach to it. There is only one way forward: staying within the ecological limits of the planet. If the ruling doesn’t stop perpetrators, the Earth will, and when it does the ICJ measuring stick (and others) will tell us who done it, to what degree, and how to calculate and assign damages.

A great summary of the ICJ ruling in outlined by Andrew Griffiths on LinkedIn. He explains it calls for the recognition of the science, outlines legal duties, explains where the responsibility lies, the rights of the affected, and what is at stake. The UN summary explains, “Failure of a State to take appropriate action to protect the climate system from GHG emissions — including through fossil fuel production, fossil fuel consumption, the granting of fossil fuel exploration licences or the provision of fossil fuel subsidies — may constitute an internationally wrongful act which is attributable to that State.”

For Canada, who provided nearly $30 billion in fossil fuel subsidies in 2024 alone, continues to humour carbon capture and storage on fossil fuel production as a climate solution, and is promoting “decarbonization” rather than “net zero” efforts, this means we are in for a rude awakening. Trying to sell fossil fuel products to the nations who are experiencing climate harm is already proving fruitless, and this ruling justifies swifter fossil fuel retreat.

In response to President Trump’s tariffs, China has nearly ceased USA LNG imports and sees its current LNG-fueled heavy-duty vehicle market as local and short-lived. “LNG price volatility and increasingly competitive electric alternatives.” And other nations do NOT have the capability to receive LNG for transport, as the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) also explained in May, “Other Asian countries do not share China’s inherent qualities that enabled its LNG trucking surge. With costs declining, electric heavy-duty vehicles could emerge as Asia’s main displacer of diesel in road transport.” An unhealthy environment for LNG Canada’s expansion.

Both coal and oil supply are outpacing demand in 2025 with OPEC+ nations flooding the market with cheaper alternatives to Canadian heavy crude, lowering prices to critical levels. While the Canadian oil and gas industry was poised to provide record production levels in H1 2025, the limited capability of other-than-USA nations to process our product means we are mostly limited to the USA’s tariff ridden market before it may be resold by them at a premium price elsewhere.

The stellar economics and stability of renewable energy sovereignty has gripped the World’s imagination and the energy pathway is becoming crystal clear.

Ember, Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research shows us that solar electricity generation growth is accelerating while natural gas power is losing significant momentum.

Meanwhile, climate damages and social injustices are at all time highs and there is real work to be done in our country (on site clean up and closure), and around the world (climate damages), to limit Canadian taxpayer liability. The ICJ ruling empowers Nation States to expect businesses to follow the laws of the land or pay up. The Government of Canada now needs to expect corporations to adopt genuine climate action towards staying within the physical constraints of the Earth. In other words, corporations, and professionals (like me) who work for them, can no longer wing it or lie, we must try.

What Should Canada do with the ICJ Ruling?