When Cynthia Houniuhi looked into the eyes of judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Netherlands last week, she had one image burning in her mind.

While delivering her testimony on the opening day of the historic climate case at The Hague, she could see the wooden posts of empty houses standing in salt water on the island of Fanalei, where her family is from on the Solomon Islands.

"The island looks deserted and abandoned compared to the one I grew up seeing and portrayed by my grandma's bedtime stories," 29-year-old Houniuhi told DW.

Rising sea levels, driven by climate change, pose an existential threat to those who call low-lying Pacific Islands like the Solomons home. Despite contributing 0.02% of the greenhouse gas emissions driving global temperature increases, they are among the most vulnerable nations in the world to the climate crisis.

And it was these feelings of injustice and urgency that drove Houniuhi, who is president of the campaign group Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change, and many other young people to spearhead calls to bring the issue straight to the world's top court.

What started as a classroom discussion five years ago on the Pacific Island of Vanuatu, has in the last two weeks brought representatives from over 100 nations and international organizations to deliver testimonies at the largest ever case before the UN court.

In 2023, the UN, led by Vanuatu, specifically requested the international court adjudicate on climate responsibility, having expressed "profound alarm" that greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise despite vows to cut them drastically.........

© Deutsche Welle