2024年5月21日，一家国际海事法庭发现，温室气体是造成海洋污染的重要因素。

对于受到全球变暖带来的海平面上升威胁的小岛屿国家来说，这是一个突破。

国际海洋法法庭(International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea)在其首份针对气候问题的判决中指出，海洋吸收的化石燃料和其他导致地球变暖的气体排放应算作海洋污染。

其裁决如下——尽管如此，这一“咨询意见”仍应为其他地方的案件提供先例——还表示，各国需要超越具有里程碑意义的2015年《巴黎协定》的需要，保护海洋环境和依赖该协定的国家。

根据巴哈马（寻求这一意见的九个加勒比和太平洋岛国之一）欧盟大使Cheryl Bazard的说法，法律和科学在法庭上不谋而合，两者都成为赢家。

长期以来，经济实力最小、但易受气候变化影响的小岛屿国家一直感到自己被历届全球峰会所忽视，在这些峰会上，减少碳排放的承诺远远达不到限制全球变暖最严重影响所需的最低限度。

法院提到，各州在法律上有义务监督并尽量减少导致气候变化的排放。

它还提出了环境影响评估的具体要求。

报告称，各国降低温室气体排放的目标必须客观地建立在最合适和最可行的科学以及相关国际规则和标准的基础上，设定的标准甚至高于《巴黎协定》。

这项裁决将影响未来的案件。

安提瓜和巴布达总理加斯顿·布朗表示，国际海洋法法庭（ITLOS）的意见将为未来的法律和外交活动提供信息，以结束将世界带到这种不可逆转灾难边缘的不作为。

国际环境法中心(Centre for International environment Law)主任尼基·瑞施(Nikki Reisch)补充说，除了那些掩盖国际气候条约不足之处的条约外，该意见明确表明，遵守《巴黎协定》是不够的。

律师和气候活动人士表示，这一决定可能会严重影响美洲人权法院和国际法院对各国气候义务的两种看法。

上个月，欧洲人权法院(European Court of Human Rights)建立了一个类似的先例，当时原告认为瑞士在防止气候变化方面做得不够，侵犯了他们的人权。

代表南太平洋岛国图瓦卢的Eselealofa Apinelu提到，周二的裁决明确表明，各国在法律上有义务保护海洋环境，保护其他国家免受气候变化带来的生存威胁。

他称这是追究主要污染者责任的首要步骤。

然而，通往全球一致行动的道路远非一帆风顺。

提起诉讼的其他国家包括帕劳、圣卢西亚、圣文森特、纽埃、瓦努阿图、格林纳丁斯、圣基茨和尼维斯。

▲Image for representation purposes only

英文原文

On May 21, 2024, a worldwide maritime court discovered that greenhouse gases are a significant contributor to marine pollution.

This is a breakthrough for small island states that are threatened by the increasing sea levels brought about by global warming.

In its first climate-specific judgement, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea stated that emissions from fossil fuels and other Earth-warming gases absorbed by the oceans are to be counted as marine pollution.

Its ruling goes as follows — an “advisory opinion” that should nevertheless offer a precedent for cases elsewhere — also said that the nations need to go beyond the needs of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement to safeguard the marine environment and the states that are dependent on it.

Per Cheryl Bazard, the ambassador of the European Union of the Bahamas (one of the nine Caribbean and Pacific island nations seeking this opinion), the law and science coincided in the tribunal, and both emerged as winners.

Small island nations with minimal economic power but vulnerable to climate change have long felt neglected by successive global summits, where the promises to minimise carbon emissions have fallen far short of the minimum required to restrict the worst impacts of global warming.

The court mentioned that states are legally obligated to supervise and minimise emissions that cause climate change.

It also laid out the specific demands for environmental impact assessments.

It said states’ targets for lowering greenhouse emissions must be objectively set based on the most appropriate and available science and relevant international rules and standards, setting the bar even higher than the Paris Agreement.

The ruling is going to shape future cases.

The ITLOS opinion will inform future legal and diplomatic activities in ending inactions that have brought the world to the brink of such an irreversible disaster, stated Antigua and Barbuda PM Gaston Browne.

Nikki Reisch, the director of the Centre for International Environmental Law, added that to the ones that would conceal the inadequacies of international climate treaties, the opinion makes it clear that compliance with the Paris Agreement is inadequate.

Lawyers and climate activists stated that this decision could heavily influence two views on the states’ climate obligations pending from the Inter-American Court on Human Rights and the International Court of Justice.

A similar and prospective precedent was established last month when the European Court of Human Rights sided with plaintiffs who contended that Switzerland was infringing on their human rights by failing to do enough to prevent climate change.

Eselealofa Apinelu, representing the South Pacific island of Tuvalu, mentioned that Tuesday’s opinion made it clear that states were legally bound to safeguard the marine environment and other states from the existential threats of climate change.

He referred to it as a primary step in holding the major polluters responsible.

However, the road to concerted worldwide action is far from seamless.

The other nations in the group that brought the case were Palau, St.Lucia, St. Vincent, Niue, Vanuatu, Grenadines, St. Kitts, and Nevis.

免责申明：本文根据Reuters等内容仅代表作者观点，不代表中国海员之家立场。其真实性及原创性未能得到中国海员之家证实，在此感谢原作者的辛苦创作，如转载涉及版权等问题，请作者与我们联系，我们将在第一时间处理，谢谢！联系邮箱：cnisu@54seaman.com