Pacific Islanders Secure Landmark Climate Ruling at UN's Highest Court

In 2016, Cyclone Winston struck Fiji with shocking ferocity, knocking out power, killing dozens, and destroying entire villages. Just six weeks later, another massive tropical cyclone, Zena, made landfall. For Vishal Prasad and other Pacific Islanders, this became the new normal.

Determined to fight back, Prasad and a group of law students at the University of the South Pacific in Vanuatu planned to take their case against climate change to the United Nations' highest court. In July 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered a landmark advisory opinion, ruling that access to a "clean, healthy and sustainable environment" is a human right. The court also stated that countries failing to protect people from climate change could be in violation of international law.

The group behind this victory, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC), has now been honored with a prestigious Right Livelihood Award. "Central to their strategy was gathering testimonies from Pacific communities, who are among those contributing least [to] climate change yet facing some of its harshest consequences," the award organization said.

Prasad, PISFCC's director, believes this award will help raise awareness and garner more support for their ongoing fight. While the ICJ's ruling is non-binding, it paves the way for further legal actions, both at the international and domestic levels. Prasad says the opinion provides a "new chance" to build global solidarity in addressing the climate crisis.