Submission in Support of Petitioners
Case No. CHR-NI-2016-0001
and achieving the target of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels should… be the
objective of all climate action.”78
Countries in Asia and the Pacific are particularly vulnerable to public health
problems caused by climate change. This is due in large part to the tropical
climate, which means that these countries experience greater risks from more
severe tropical cyclones, more intense monsoons, expanding disease vectors, and
heat waves. Another key concern in the Philippines is malnutrition due to
disruptions in food supply caused by rising temperatures, drought, and extreme
weather events.79 There is evidence that climate change has already contributed to
severe droughts in the Philippines over the past three decades, which have in turn
contributed to increases in food scarcity as well as rural unrest and mass migration
(with corresponding impacts on public health).80 Observed increases in the
frequency of severe typhoons, flooding events, and heat waves have also
contributed to adverse public health impacts in the Philippines.81
3. Right to Clean Water and Sanitation
The UN General Assembly has recognized that all persons have a “right to
safe and clean drinking water and sanitation that is essential for the full enjoyment
of life and all human rights.”82 Climate change will seriously affect the availability
of freshwater through reductions in precipitation and a higher risk of drought;
reductions in snowpack driven by rising temperatures and changes in the type of
precipitation (rain instead of drought); increased evapotranspiration that results
from higher temperatures; sea level rise, which will contribute to saltwater
intrusion into freshwater aquifers; and more intense storms, rainfall, and flooding,
which can lead to contamination of freshwater sources. Reductions in freshwater
availability, flooding, and sea level rise can also adversely affect sanitation systems
(e.g., when wastewater treatment plants flood and when sufficient water is not
available for hygienic needs). With four degrees of warming, the increase in water
scarcity could have devastating results on food production and public health in
many countries.
78
Id. at ¶ 55.
PAGASA (2011), supra note 10, at 51.
80
Warren (2013), supra note 17.
81
Xerxes T. Seposo et al., Evaluating the Effects of Temperature on Mortality in Manila City
(Philippines) from 2006-2010 Using a Distributed Lag Nonlinear Model, 12(6) INT. J. ENVIRON. RES.
PUBLIC HEALTH 6842 (2015); de la Cruz (2014), supra note 71.
82
UN General Assembly, Resolution Adopted by the General Assembly on 28 July 2010: The Human
Right to Water and Sanitation, ¶ 1,UN Doc. A/RES/64/292 (Aug. 3, 2010).
79
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School
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