This year's highest-stakes legal battle plays out in the International Court of Justice: 'May well be the most consequential case in the history of humanity'

Many of the countries most impacted by rising global temperatures and changes to the weather caused by air pollution are the ones that have caused the least pollution themselves. One example is Vanuatu, a small island nation in the Pacific Ocean.

Now, Vanuatu and over 100 other countries are fighting back against major polluters such as the United States, China, and Saudi Arabia, bringing a case to the International Court of Justice at The Hague in what the New York Times called "the most important climate case that a lot of people haven't heard about."

"I choose my words carefully when I say that this may well be the most consequential case in the history of humanity," Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu's special envoy for climate change and environment, said in his statement to the court. "Let us not allow future generations to look back and wonder why the cause of their doom was condoned."

🗣️ Do you worry about air pollution in your town?

🔘 All the time 💯

🔘 Often 😢

🔘 Only sometimes 😟

🔘 Never 😎

🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind

The court, which consists of a panel of 15 judges elected by the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council, is expected to issue a ruling in the coming year. It will decide on whether the failure of many countries to limit their air pollution constitutes an "ongoing breach of international law," per the wording of the suit, which was originally brought forth by a group of law students from Pacific Islands nations, as the Times detailed.

If the court agrees with the suit, it is unclear what consequences would follow, if any. The court's decision would be nonbinding, and as the United States and other countries are already failing to meet climate commitments they have made as part of the Paris Agreement, it is difficult to imagine their governments caring much one way or the other — especially since the incoming Trump administration in the U.S. is expected to be more hostile to the environment than the Biden administration was.

The court's decision could, at the very least, be an important symbolic victory for those most impacted by — and least responsible for — the pollution that is overheating our planet and causing increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events.