The prospects for poor countries look so bleak that we could be experiencing the end of development. The trickle of investment they receive focuses on exploiting natural resources. Getting the resources to tackle climate change seems impossible. But there is an action of last resort. A group of especially threatened small island states, or a country like Bangladesh, could act as the focus for a test case for the emerging international legal architecture. Perhaps it is time to take the US to court. It could happen in a variety of ways. But, even if existing legal machinery proved ineffective, we could follow the successful example of the international criminal court and create a new legal forum.