Ralph Regenvanu hopes the ICJ will declare that... REGENVANU: Making cumulative greenhouse gas emissions that amount to significant harm to the climate system is, under international law, unlawful.

"For countries like Vanuatu … we see the UNFCCC isn't moving fast enough — and this is the great opportunity," Vanuatu Minister Ralph Regenvanu said Monday.

They were never going to be enough," Ralph Regenvanu, climate envoy from the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, told Semafor.

Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa — island nations particularly vulnerable to climate change — asked the International Criminal Court to make the destruction of ecosystems a crime.

Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s special envoy for climate change and the environment, at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, on Monday. Peter Dejong / AP ...

Vanuatu's Climate Change Minister, Ralph Regenvanu answers AFP journalists' questions during an interview on the sidelines of the third United Nations Ocean Conference Ludovic MARIN ...

Ralph Regenvanu, special envoy for climate change and environment for the island nation of Vanuatu, said he was disappointed with the position the United States, Australia, Saudi Arabia and China ...

"For countries like Vanuatu … we see the UNFCCC isn't moving fast enough — and this is the great opportunity," Vanuatu Minister Ralph Regenvanu said Monday.