PISFCC Joins Pacific Leaders in Urgent Demand for Legal Protection of the Ocean

Climate action is not optional; it is a legal obligation under international law.

Nice, France: 11 June 2025 - In a powerful intervention at the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC) stood alongside the Government of Vanuatu and key regional voices to deliver a simple, uncompromising message: climate inaction is a legal failure, and the ocean cannot wait.

Hosted by Vanuatu, the press conference featured sharp and urgent statements from Hon Ralph Regenvanu, Julian Aguon, Dr Stuart Minchin, and Vishal Prasad of PISFCC, each affirming that the Pacific is no longer asking for action, but asserting the law that demands it.

Hon Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s Minister for Climate Change, stated: “We're urging all states to align their ocean climate policies with the legal obligations clarified in the ITLOS advisory opinion and in anticipation of the ICJ advisory opinion. More than 100 other states and organizations joined Vanuatu in the ICJ advisory opinion seeking clarity regarding legal duties. And it was historically the largest case ever before the ICJ in terms of number of states. We must use this momentum.”

Julian Aguon, Director of Blue Ocean Law, declared: “We are inviting the court to answer the second part of the question, what are the legal consequences in the event of breach of those obligations? Why this is important is because we get essentially to turn the page on sort of business as usual and actually embark on a new course, a new era of climate reparations. Everything under the RCWA, the Articles of Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts. Meaning cessation of harmful conduct, but also reparations, means fully accounting for damage already done. Restitution, compensation, and satisfaction.”

Dr Stuart Minchin, Director-General of the Pacific Community (SPC), highlighted, “Climate finance in the Pacific is woefully inadequate. Only 0.22 % of the...global promise of $100 billion per year that was committed to over 10 years ago is reaching the Pacific on the ground. Last year at COP there was a commitment to bring that up to 300 million, but the Pacific's only accessing 0.22 % of the 100 million. So there's a huge opportunity in front of us to improve the situation in the Pacific to take this science and turn it into real adaptation measures.”

Vishal Prasad, Director of PISFCC stated: “By going to the ICJ, we're seeking a change of narrative, change of narrative from climate action being one of political expediency and voluntary commitments to one of legal obligations. Obligations that are rooted in human rights and environmental law, in the law of the sea and customary international law, to name a few. We are calling for countries to meet their legal obligations to address the triple planetary crisis we all face. This means three things for us. First, a fossil fuel free ocean. We cannot begin talking about protecting and preserving our oceans without stopping one of the main causes of pollution to the oceans, fossil fuels.” 

The ICJ advisory opinion sparked by the bold vision of our Pacific youth, is the largest climate case in History. As the Court deliberates, PISFCC and its allies are calling on states to align domestic and international policies with binding legal obligations under international law, including UNCLOS, the Paris Agreement, and customary international law.

This is no longer about waiting for climate finance or goodwill, it’s about honouring existing legal duties. It’s about naming climate inaction for what it is: a violation of rights, a breach of duty, and a threat to life itself.

“Within a few months, the International Court of Justice will deliver its advisory opinion on climate obligations. This will be, as mentioned, the single greatest upcoming moment in climate action. When that ruling is handed down, no government will be able to claim ignorance of its duties. But we will all have a role to play in this. And we must be ready to utilize the ruling from the ICJ to hold power to account, be it at the Oceans Conference, at the negotiation tables at COP, or in the courtrooms across the world. We must seize every opportunity possible. The times we find ourselves demands this.”  said PISFCC Director. 

PISFCC is leading the global fight for climate justice, not with fear, but with legal firepower, unwavering truth, and the memory of their disappearing homelands.

-Ends- 

Click Here to watch the Press Conference

Footage Courtesy of UN WEB TV