The International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ highest judicial body, is beginning landmark hearings on global warming. Here’s a guide.

A landmark climate change case begins at the world court. In its largest case in history, the International Court of Justice heard testimony from officials of several small island nations on how climate change is endangering their survival.

The case comes just after a bitterly negotiated climate deal at the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan, which saw wealthy polluting countries ultimately agreeing to find at least US$300 billion annually by 2035 to help poorer nations transition to cleaner energy sources and prepare for increasing climate impacts such as extreme weather.