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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Karen McVeigh

Small island nations take high-emitting countries to court to protect the ocean

An aerial view of a narrow strip of land in Funafuti, Tuvalu, with blue waters on each side.
A strip of land in Funafuti, Tuvalu. The low-lying South Pacific nation of about 11,000 people is deemed ‘extremely vulnerable’ to the climate crisis.  Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty

In a landmark hearing, small island nations disproportionately affected by the climate crisis will take on high-emitting countries in a court in Hamburg, Germany, on 11 September, in what is being seen as the first climate justice case aimed at protecting the ocean.

During the two-day hearing, the nations – including the Bahamas, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Antigua and Barbuda among others – will ask the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos) to determine whether greenhouse gas emissions absorbed by the marine environment should be considered pollution.

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