A new study out says vulnerable countries could sue the United States and other industrialized nations for action on climate change.

The report, published by the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD), based in the United Kingdom, says small island nations and other threatened countries have the right and likely the procedural means to pursue an inter-state case before the United Nations’ International Court of Justice.

“Some of these countries are getting increasingly desperate,” Christoph Schwarte, the paper’s lead author, said. With little movement toward a new global climate change treaty, he said, many leaders are looking for ways to make the United States and others understand the threats they face from rising sea levels, droughts and storm surges.

“They need to see some movement; otherwise, their existence is under threat,” Schwarte said. “If nothing significant happens within the next two or three years, I really wouldn’t be surprised if countries go to court. There’s an increased realization that some form of legal action is actually possible.”