The Federated States of Micronesia says its challenge to the expansion of a Czech power plant sets a precedent for other countries affected by climate change to follow.
Last year the FSM submitted a transboundary environmental impact assessment to the Czech Environment Ministry, linking the coal-fired plant's emissions to the disappearance of its low lying islands.
The NGO, Greenpeace, says it's believed to be the first time a state submitted such an assessment about another country with which it did not share a common border.
While the Czech Ministry allowed the plant's expansion, it also acknowledged the FSM's interest in protecting the climate.
FSM Environment Office director, Andrew Yatilman says the initiative had an impact.
"Our concerns were satisfied by another country as a sovereign state and so I think that sets a precedent for other sovereign states that may feel impacted by the actions of other countries that are far away to be able to take legal challenge."
FSM environment office director Andrew Yatilman
