Facing an existential threat, Caribbean small island developing states have actively engaged in international legal processes aimed at combatting climate change. Caribbean states initiated the advisory opinion before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea and participated in two others, one before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the other before the International Court of Justice. The present article seeks to explore the reasoning and potential of the three advisory cases for strategic use by SIDS. To this end the article summarises key aspects of the advisory opinions for practical use by Caribbean Governments, with particular focus on the ICJ’s opinion. It identifies areas of divergence between Caribbean submissions and the positions adopted by the ICJ and assesses the accuracy of the climate science discussed in the opinion, especially in relation to Caribbean climate change challenges. The article offers concrete recommendations for Caribbean SIDS about how to strengthen and deploy regional climate science, and to use the advisory opinions, in their future legal and negotiating strategies.
Berry et al. (Tue,) studied this question.