Press release
UN Climate Summit pledges highlight urgent need for binding climate laws
24 September 2025
NEW YORK - Today’s UN Climate Summit saw new climate pledges from major emitters, yet the announcements still fall short of what both science and international law require. With the International Court of Justice now confirming states’ legal duties on climate, attention turns to how countries will turn political promises into binding laws at COP30 and beyond.
“Today’s UN Climate Summit confirmed that while more countries will bring forward new pledges by COP30, the targets remain underwhelming and will not be enough to keep global warming within safe limits unless they are strengthened and delivered through national laws and policies," said Pierre Cannet, global head of public affairs and policy at ClientEarth.
“As the UN Secretary-General warned: ‘The science demands action. The law commands it.’ The recent ruling of the International Court of Justice makes clear that governments now have binding legal duties on climate. Political promises are no longer enough. They need to become enforceable laws and policies during COP30 and beyond.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Earlier this year, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark ruling confirming that governments have binding legal duties to tackle climate change. The Court warned that failing to curb fossil fuel production and consumption, or to approve new fossil projects, could breach international law. It affirmed that historical polluters bear greater responsibility, that governments must regulate companies and financiers, and that a safe and healthy environment is a human right. Read our response to the ruling here
About ClientEarth
ClientEarth is a non-profit organisation that uses the law to create systemic change that protects the Earth for – and with – its inhabitants. We are tackling climate change, protecting nature and stopping pollution, with partners and citizens around the globe. We hold industry and governments to account and defend everyone’s right to a healthy world. ClientEarth teams in Europe, Asia and the USA work to shape, implement and enforce the law, to build a future for our planet in which people and nature can thrive together.