Our Story
World’s Youth for Climate Justice is a global campaign taking climate change and human rights to the International Court of Justice to get an advisory opinion.
In 2019, 27 law students from the University of the South Pacific formed the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC).
In the same year, the Vanuatu government tabled the PISFCC’s proposal at the Pacific Island Forum. There, the 18 member states of the PISFCC noted positively the proposal for a United Nations General Assembly resolution seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJAO) on climate change and human rights.
Although a crucial step in the right direction, the resolution needed a simple majority vote of the 193 member states of the UN to be successful. Recognising this reality, the ICJAO campaign has grown beyond the Pacific, where Pacific youth and partners are working tirelessly to galvanize support both regionally and internationally.
Youth from around the world have united in this mission under the youth-led umbrella organisation World’s Youth for Climate Justice (WYCJ).
Join us in our journey to take the world’s biggest problem to the World’s Highest Court.
#OurFutureOurRights
Follow the journey of World’s Youth for Climate Justice!
2019
Philipines Embassy in New York - ICJ Petition to support a resolution.
2020
UN Climate Week 2019
First WYCJ event, 75th UNGA official side-event
“I am climate justice” Philipines
2021
WYCJ and PISFCC campaign at COP26
2022
Launch of Coalition for the ICJAO at the Peace Palace
WYCJ and PISFCC win Global Leadership Award
Peace Palace event
Peace Palace event
2023
Youth Climate Justice Handbook launch and presentation at UNFCC SB58
WYCJ brings the campaign to COP28
2024
WYCJ awarded Youth Carnegie Peace Prize
WYCJ and CIEL publish Daily Debriefs during the Oral Hearings
WYCJ mobilises around the ICJAO Oral Hearings
Our Event Highlights
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WYCJ at the Oral Hearings
Date: 2 to 13 December 2024.
WYCJ organised multiple events in-person and online in light of the oral hearings for the International Court of Justice advisory opinion.
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12 Hour Global Climate Justice conference
Date: 22 July 2024
On 22 July 2024, the the Centre for Climate Justice - Bangladesh (CCJ-B), Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Environmental Lawyers Collective for Africa, La Ruta Del Clima, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, and World’s Youth for Climate Justice organized a Global Climate Justice Conference.
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ECOSOC Youth Forum Side Event - Building a Sustainable Future for All: Youth-Led Solutions to Climate Change
Date: 17 April 2024.
This side event was a collaboration between Force Juvénile pour un Avenir Rassurant (FOJAR) & World’s Youth for Climate Justice - Asian Front.
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State of Play: the ICJ AO Written Submissions and Beyond
Date: 22 March 2024
To build momentum around the deadline for written submissions, WYCJ, PISFCC, and the government of Vanuatu organized an in-person event to discuss the next steps, and build collaboration around the ICJ process.
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WYCJ at COP29
Date: 11 to 22 November 2024.
With the ICJAO oral hearings starting on 2 December, the UNFCCC COP in Baku, Azerbaijan, held significant importance.
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WYCJ at COP28
Date: 30 November to 6 December 2023.
WYCJ headed to COP28 in Dubai, UAE, to encourage all States, especially climate-vulnerable States, to make written statements to the ICJ and urge them to include the voices of those most affected, especially youth, in these proceedings.
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WYCJ at COP27
Date: 6 to 8 November 2022.
The World’s Youth, headed to COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, to rally support for our shared mission to bring the climate crisis to the world’s highest court.
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WYCJ at COP26
Date: 31 October to 13 November 2021.
WYCJ brought the ICJAO to COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.
WYCJ and the Oral Hearings in the News
How young people have taken climate justice to the world’s international courts - The Conversation, 21/7/25
Landmark ICJ climate change hearing concludes; opinion expected in 2025 - Mongabay, 17/12/24
Apply "existing international obligations" to address climate change, Costa Rica asks in "biggest climate case" in International Court of Justice - Amelia Rueda, 04/12/24
Costa Rica defends climate justice before judges of the International Court of Justice - Ojo Al Clima, 04/12/24
Nepal seeks climate justice in The Hague - Nagarik News, 04/12/24
World Court Considers Climate Change - Human Rights Watch, 02/12/24
World's top court starts landmark climate hearings - Deutsche Welle, 02/12/24
Small island states seek climate change justice in landmark top UN court case - Euronews, 02/12/24
A climate coup swarms the Peace Palace as U.N. ICJ case begins - Atmos, 02/12/24
The journey to The Hague: youth-led campaign for climate justice at the ICJ - IISD, 27/12/24
Two weeks, countless voices: Explaining the ICJ’s unprecedented hearings on climate obligations - Maastricht University, 24/11/24
