The Netherlands told the UN’s top court on Tuesday that without sufficient action to combat global warming, the Peace Palace may soon be an island.

“There is no room for free riders on this planet,” René Lefeber, legal adviser to the ministry of foreign affairs, told the International Court of Justice at a ground-breaking case on the legal rights and responsibilities of countries on climate change.

The court in The Hague, which is based in the Peace Palace, is holding two weeks of hearings after the United Nations General Assembly voted last year to ask its highest court for an advisory opinion on the “obligations of states in respect of climate change.”

Lefeber joked that the 110 year old building was sufficently high enough above sea level to ensure the 15 judges should have “dry feet” for the remainder of the proceedings.

But, he warned, future hearings might be held on Peace Palace Island if enough is not done to stop rising temperatures.

The push for an opinion was made by the small island nation of Vanuatu which urged the court last Monday to hold the world’s polluters legally responsible.

“Today, we find ourselves on the front lines of a crisis we did not create, a crisis that threatens our very existence,” Vanuatu’s climate change envoy Ralph Regenvanu told the court.

The landmark case will see a record 99 countries—including top emitters the US and China and organisations like OPEC—weigh in on the issue. Although the court’s opinion is non-binding, it will likely influence litigation worldwide in a year that is destined to be the hottest on record.