Submission in Support of Petitioners Case No. CHR-NI-2016-0001 the U.S. violates their rights to life, liberty, and property under the U.S. Constitution.65 Although the outcome of that case has not yet been decided, the reviewing court recently rejected a motion to dismiss the case and held that these were justiciable claims that could be properly settled by the court.66 The findings of the OHCHR and these domestic tribunals are supported by a plethora of evidence about the life-threatening effects of climate change. The IPCC has noted that the risk of extreme weather events and resulting endangerment of human lives is “moderate to high at temperatures of 1°C to 2C above preindustrial levels”67 and significantly more lives will be at risk if we exceed 2C in warming. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050 due to increases in malnutrition, malaria, dengue, diarrhea and heat stress alone.68 Taking a broader look at climate-related causes of death, a study commissioned by the Climate Vulnerable Forum found that climate change is already responsible for approximately 400,000 deaths per year and that number is expected to rise to 700,000 deaths per year by 2030.69 These mortality estimates are based the direct effects of climate change, such as extreme weather events, flooding, heat waves, disease, water shortages, and food shortages. Climate change can also affect mortality in other ways that are more difficult to quantify – for example, by undermining livelihoods and displacing people from their homes. In the Philippines, the most significant climate-related threats to life include observed and projected increases in storm intensity, extreme rainfall, flooding, and landslides, the effects of which will be exacerbated by sea level rise in coastal areas, as well as increased maximum temperatures and heat waves. The possibility of more severe or prolonged droughts is also a major concern for many regions in the Philippines.70 Thus far, the most visible impact on the right to life in the 65 First Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief, Kelsey Cascadia Rose Juliana vs. United States of America, Case No. 6:15-cv-01517-TC (D. Ore. Sept. 15, 2015. 66 Opinion and Order, Kelsey Cascadia Rose Juliana vs. United States of America, Case No. 6:15-cv01517-TC (D. Ore. Nov. 10, 2016). 67 IPCC, CLIMATE CHANGE 2014: SYNTHESIS REPORT (Rajendra K. Pachauri et al. eds., IPCC 2014) at 19. 68 WHO, QUANTITATIVE RISK ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON SELECTED CAUSES OF DEATH, 2030S AND 2050S (2014). 69 DARA AND CLIMATE VULNERABLE FORUM, A GUIDE TO THE COLD CALCULUS OF A HOT PLANET, 2nd ed. (2012) at 17. 70 For more on this, please refer to the discussion of the “right to water” below. Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School 15