The deputy leader of the Australian Greens party and New South Wales senator, Mehreen Faruqi, is urging the Australian federal government to back Vanuatu's bid to seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on climate change.
Vanuatu is one of the most climate-vulnerable nations in the world and has embarked on an ambitious campaign to take the human rights impacts of climate change to the world's highest court.
In a letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Dr Faruqi said Australia should take a leadership position in supporting its Pacific neighbour.
She said wealthy, colonial countries, including Australia, bear the overwhelming responsibility for causing the climate crisis.
Dr Faruqi said Australia's political and diplomatic support for Vanuatu's cause would be a gamechanger and prove to its Pacific neighbours it has listened to them and is genuinely committed to climate justice.