Submission in Support of Petitioners Case No. CHR-NI-2016-0001 realization of the right to development, and states have a corresponding to duty to protect the right to development against infringement by non-state actors.123 As discussed above, climate change will make it considerably more difficult for governments and people to pursue forms of development in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized. It will interfere with key economic sectors and government services, including energy, water services, transport, agriculture and livestock, forestry, fisheries, and tourism, and degrade the natural resource base that many people depend on for their lives and livelihoods. Access to food, water, and housing will all be impaired. And countries will not enjoy full sovereignty over the management of their natural resources, insofar as these resources will be impaired by climate change. In these ways, climate change poses a serious barrier to sustainable development, particularly in countries like the Philippines that will experience the brunt of its negative impacts.124 The costs of climate change impacts will be enormous in the Philippines, both in terms of monetary damages and damages to human lives and livelihoods. The Philippines has already suffered major economic losses as a result of severe typhoons over the past decade (e.g., Typhoon Haiyan caused approximately $2 billion in damages).125 The Asian Development Bank (ADP) estimates that, under a business-as-usual emissions trajectory, the Philippines will suffer a mean loss of 2.2% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2100 when market impacts only (mainly related to agriculture and coastal zones) are considered, a 5.7% loss if non-market impacts (mainly related to health and ecosystems) are included, and a 6.7% loss if catastrophic risks are considered. 126 7. Right to Equality and Non-Discrimination The UDHR recognizes that “[a]ll human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” and that “[e]veryone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration without distinction of any kind.”127 The ICCPR and ICESCR similarly recognize that the rights enumerated therein must be exercised 123 OHCHR, Frequently Asked Questions on the Right to Development, Fact Sheet no. 37 (2016) at 4-5. Press Release, World Bank, Philippines: Climate Change a Fundamental Threat to Development (May 23, 2014), http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/05/23/climate-change-a-fundamentalthreat-to-development-world-bank. 125 Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Final Report on Effects of Typhoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan) (2014). 126 ADB, THE ECONOMICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: A REGIONAL REVIEW (2009) at 82. 127 UDHR Arts. 1 and 2. 124 Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School 23