{"id":812418,"date":"2026-05-21T14:54:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/812418\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T14:54:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:54:29","slug":"un-votes-to-support-action-on-climate-change-despite-us-opposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/812418\/","title":{"rendered":"UN votes to support action on climate change despite US opposition"},"content":{"rendered":"

UNITED NATIONS (AP) \u2014 The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to support strong action to limit climate change despite recent diplomatic efforts by the United States to have the measure withdrawn. <\/p>\n

The 193-member world body approved a nonbinding resolution endorsing the landmark advisory opinion<\/a> by the U.N.\u2019s top court last July that called failure by countries to protect the planet from climate change a violation of international law. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe world\u2019s highest court has spoken. Today, the General Assembly has answered,\u201d U.N. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said in a statement. \u201cThis is a powerful affirmation of international law, climate justice, science, and the responsibility of states to protect people from the escalating climate crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vote was 141-8 with 28 abstentions. The U.S., Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia \u2014 some of the highest oil-producing nations and major greenhouse gas emitters \u2014 opposed the measure. Climate change is caused mainly by the burning of coal, oil and gas. <\/p>\n

The text includes adopting a national climate action plan to limit global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit); phasing out subsidies for fossil fuel exploration, production and exploitation; and urging those in violation to provide \u201cfull reparation\u201d for damage.<\/p>\n

The Paris climate agreement in 2015<\/a> set a goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times, or the mid-1800s, giving rise to the mantra \u201c1.5 to stay alive,\u201d<\/a> but now scientists say even their best-case scenario still shoots past that signature temperature mark.<\/p>\n

The U.N. resolution had initially included stronger language from the International Court of Justice opinion that called for establishing an \u201cInternational Register of Damage\u201d to record evidence and claims, but it was removed after nearly a dozen consultations in order to receive more support.<\/p>\n

The adoption came despite reporting by The Associated Press<\/a> in February that the Trump administration had been urging other nations to press the small island country of Vanuatu \u2014 the draft\u2019s original sponsor \u2014 to withdraw it from consideration. <\/p>\n

In guidance issued to all U.S. embassies and consulates, the State Department had said it \u201cstrongly objects\u201d to the proposal and that its adoption \u201ccould pose a major threat to U.S. industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Tammy Bruce, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N., blasted the measure once again, calling it \u201chighly problematic\u201d and maintaining that Washington has serious legal and policy concerns despite changes to the draft. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe resolution includes inappropriate political demands relating to fossil fuels and on other climate topics,\u201d Bruce told the assembly before the vote. <\/p>\n

But representatives from Vanuatu and other island nations, who fear for their survival<\/a> because of the impact of climate change, said it was important for the General Assembly to back the court opinion, which was hailed as a turning point in international climate law.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should be honest with one another about why this matters,\u201d Odo Tevi, the Vanuatu ambassador to the U.N., said before the vote. \u201cIt matters because the harm is real and it is already here, along our islands and coastlines, for communities facing drought and failed harvests.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cThe states and peoples bearing the heaviest burden are very often those who contributed least to the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

The action by the world body follows decades of frustration for Pacific nations that are watching their homelands disappear. <\/p>\n

In Tuvalu, where the average elevation is just 2 meters (6.6 feet) above sea level, more than a third of the population has applied for a climate migration visa to Australia, although only a limited number are accepted each year. By 2100, much of the country is projected to be underwater at high tide. <\/p>\n

In Nauru, the government has begun selling passports to wealthy foreigners \u2014 offering visa-free access to dozens of countries \u2014 in a bid to generate revenue for possible relocation efforts. <\/p>\n

Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Wednesday that by endorsing the court ruling, the U.N. \u201creaffirmed the global commitment to protect human rights.\u201d He noted that it came \u201cdespite efforts by the U.S. and other oil-producing states to stifle attempts to combat climate change.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UNITED NATIONS (AP) \u2014 The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to support strong action to limit climate…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":812419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[23],"tags":[36676,10109,10106,285,356,84,69,10102,746,57,3464,83,3461,2934,242150,330096,53197,271,64955,159,5322,1206,36679,67,370,132,68,57957,107],"class_list":["post-812418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-antonio-guterres","tag-climate","tag-climate-and-environment","tag-climate-change","tag-courts","tag-district-of-columbia","tag-donald-trump","tag-energy-industry","tag-environment","tag-general-news","tag-international-agreements","tag-iran","tag-iran-government","tag-legislation","tag-louis-charbonneau","tag-odo-tevi","tag-oil-and-gas-industry","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-saudi-arabia-government","tag-science","tag-tammy-bruce","tag-united-nations","tag-united-nations-general-assembly","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-government","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-vanuatu","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}