As climate change intensifies, vulnerable states seek legal redress against polluters

FILE - Delegates attend the U.N.'s International Court of Justice public hearings in an advisory opinion case that may become a reference point in defining countries' legal obligations to fight climate change, in The Hague, Netherlands, Dec. 2 2024.

At a landmark hearing Tuesday on climate change law at the United Nation’s top court in The Hague, Britain argued that only existing climate treaties should have any bearing on a state’s obligations to address the crisis, echoing calls from other big economies.