(i)
(ii)
(iii)
the actions of the ‘carbon majors’ are interfering with Filipinos’ right
to life;
there is a corresponding obligation on both the carbon majors and
the Government of the Republic of The Philippines to take reasonable
steps to preserve life; and that
an investigation is necessary to determine responsibility and
appropriate remedial action.
The structure of the Petition therefore accords with general principles of human
rights law.
The potential for climate change to interfere with the right to life is widely
acknowledged by human rights institutions.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, for example, has made the connection
with specific reference to loss of life in The Philippines7:
Climate change clearly poses a threat to human life … As highlighted by
Renan Dalisay, Administrator of the National Food Authority of the
Philippines, Yolanda which “left a path of death and destruction, claiming
no less than 7500 precious Filipino lives, mostly in economically vulnerable
communities,” this threat extends to both present and future generations.
Yolanda, or Typhoon Haiyan as it is more commonly known internationally,
was an extreme weather event.
According to the IPCC, the risk of having further extreme weather events
and the resulting endangerment of human lives is “moderate to high at
temperatures of 1°C to 2°C above pre- industrial levels.” A recent report by
the World Bank affirms this risk, finding that “further health impacts of
climate change could include injuries and deaths due to extreme weather
events.”
In the context of climate change, extreme weather events may be the most
visible and most dramatic threat to the enjoyment of the right to life but
they are by no means the only one.
The Council of Europe Manual on Human Rights and the Environment, 2012, pays
specific attention to the right to life (Part II, Chapter 1):
7
See Understanding Human Rights and Climate Change, Submission of the Office of
the High Commissioner for Human Rights to the 21st Conference of the Parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 26 November 2015
(http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/ClimateChange/COP21.pdf)
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