Read the Tory leader's full damning take here: If this climate ruling is allowed to stand, Britain will be bankruptGet your news delivered straight to you by 7am - sign up to our new Morning Mail newsletter for FREESee more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy GLEN OWEN Published: 00:26 BST, 12 July 2026 | Updated: 01:06 BST, 12 July 2026
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has vowed to challenge a ruling by a foreign court which could leave Britain facing £4trillion in damages for greenhouse gas emissions going back to the Industrial Revolution.The ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has been endorsed by the Government, declared that states had a binding obligation to limit greenhouse gas emissions, to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels and to stop exploration or production of crude oil, gas and other fossil fuels.Experts say that leaves the UK open to litigation from poorer countries. Writing in today's Mail on Sunday, Ms Badenoch says that Energy Secretary Ed Miliband would 'be delighted' that 'we wouldn't be able to further exploit our natural resources in the North Sea, and we'd be on the hook for trillions of pounds in reparations to developing countries for the 'damage suffered' by historic carbon emissions'.The UK is currently the only member of the United Nations Security Council to accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ, which is based in The Hague.The case has similarities with the Chagos Islands.The UK began talks with Mauritius to return the islands after an ICJ advisory opinion led to a ruling by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea that the UK did not have legal sovereignty over the islands.Ms Badenoch said: 'I do not believe that we should remain within the compulsory jurisdiction of this court if it is not in our national interest to be there. The Conservative party leader, pictured, has vowed to challenge the foreign court ruling 'The world has changed. Our approach should evolve with it.'Earlier this week, Ms Badenoch urged Labour MPs – including Andy Burnham – to back her bid to stop the Government's 'abhorrent' plans to free sex offenders early.She said measures in Labour's Sentencing Act will force victims to 'relive the trauma' they endured at the hands of sick paedophiles.Her party will force a parliamentary vote in a bid to block the early release of rapists and sex offenders, under a scheme introduced by Labour to free up space in the overcrowded jails.It comes after aides to Mr Burnham, who is likely to be PM within a fortnight, indicated he does not support the measures either – and is willing to change the law to reverse them.
