This Women’s Month, we honor the pivotal role Pacific women played in bringing climate justice to the world’s highest court.
When island nations and regional allies presented their case before the International Court of Justice, women leaders, lawyers, and youth advocates were instrumental in building arguments that led to a landmark 2025 Advisory Opinion affirming states’ obligations to protect the climate and human rights.
The campaign began years earlier with a call from the Government of Vanuatu and the youth movement Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC). Over time, the initiative evolved into a coordinated regional campaign. Governments, regional organizations, civil society groups, faith leaders, feminist movements, and youth advocates worked together to present climate change as a question of international law and human rights.
Pacific women were central to this effort. Women leaders, lawyers, advocates, and young activists helped shape legal submissions and amplify the realities of climate change across Pacific communities. According to the Pacific Women Lead (PWL), gender perspectives were a prominent feature of the Pacific’s contributions to the Court. Of the 14 Pacific Island countries and territories, eleven submitted written statements and thirteen presented oral arguments. More than half included gender analysis, with several submissions highlighting the disproportionate impacts of climate change on women and girls.
Women were also highly visible in court. Seven delegations featured women presenters, three were entirely female, and video testimonies brought Pacific women’s lived experiences into the proceedings.
Cynthia Houniuhi, PISFCC President, took the stage to speak on behalf of the youth, “Those who stand to lose are the future generations. Their future is uncertain, reliant upon the decision-making of a handful of large-emitting States which, as my colleagues explained, are responsible for climate change. These States have not only enabled but proactively encouraged the production and consumption of fossil fuels and continue to do so today.”
Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, legal counsel for Vanuatu and the Melanesian spearhead group, demanded that the Court also establish the legal consequences of harming other states. She argued that polluting nations should cease that conduct: “This means not only stopping actions that fuel the fire—such as expanding, and providing subsidies for fossil fuels—but also dismantling the systemic structures that drive emissions.”
For Pacific women, climate change is not an abstract legal issue. Women are often at the forefront of sustaining families, safeguarding food systems, and preserving cultural knowledge while also facing heightened risks from climate-related displacement and resource scarcity.
The ruling is a milestone for accountability, climate finance, and support for vulnerable communities. At its heart, however, are the Pacific women whose vision, courage, and leadership turned a regional campaign into a global movement. Moving forward, their voices and advocacy will continue to shape the fight for climate justice, safeguarding both the environment and the future of generations to come.
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