UNEP co-organized with the Government of Vanuatu, the Pacific Community (SPC), the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and UN agencies (OHCHR and ESCAP), the Pacific Climate Justice and Sea Level Rise Week, 25–28 May in Suva. The convening brought together Forum, SPC and UN members to consider the 2025 International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change as it relates to ongoing work in the Pacific on climate action and advancing climate justice. Participants considered how the Advisory Opinion can support members with the implementation of the 2023 Declaration on the Continuity of Statehood and the Protection of Persons, prepare for UNFCCC COP 31, and advance work on the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment in the Pacific through work on a possible regional declaration on the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment in the Pacific. The convening considered how the Advisory Opinion on Climate Change can be used more effectively by the Pacific to advance its climate action priorities more broadly.
Organizers: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Pacific Community (SPC), the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific UN agencies (ESCAP)