The United Nations‘s top court issued a nonbinding declaration Wednesday that countries are obligated to take action against climate change. If states fail to take measures to mitigate climate change,

The ruling’s scope is limited to two American activists, but it represents a striking, if tentative, blow to the president’s efforts to penalize and isolate the world’s highest criminal court.

In a landmark advisory opinion, the United Nations' top court said countries could be in violation of international law if they fail to take measures to protect the planet from climate change, and nations harmed by its effects could be entitled to reparations.