On May 21, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, in Hamburg, Germany, ruled that greenhouse gases are marine pollutants and nations must take action to “reduce, control and prevent” their effects. The tribunal, sometimes called the Oceans Court, was responding to a request from a consortium of small island nations disappearing under rising seas.

The United States is not one of the 169 parties to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, but it abides by its principles. And while the tribunal’s unanimous ruling is not legally binding, it will influence national and global court cases now being brought against the fossil fuel industry and its well-funded resistance to a carbon-free, renewable energy future.

Read more of the LA Times article by David Helvarg