b. There is a legal framework in place to provide redress and
deterrence for violations.
viii) The ‘polluter’ should pay for the social and environmental costs of their
pollution (where ‘polluter’ may be defined as the economic agent playing
a decisive role in the pollution);
ix) As long as a company has ‘materially contributed’ to the pollution causing
a particular harm, that company may be said to have ‘caused’ the harm.
9.
Remedies
The Honourable Commission has the responsibility of making recommendations to
ensure the survival of The Filipino People.
It is respectfully submitted that the Honourable Commission, subject to its findings
on responsibility and accountability, consider making the following
Recommendations:
A. That the Government of the Republic of The Philippines develop and
implement a nationwide adaptation programme, grounded in projections
of future temperature and sea-level rises that are as accurate as possible24,
to include a public awareness campaign explaining the projected future
risks.
B. That the Government of the Republic of the Philippines enforce its state
rights through the international courts, seeking judicial recognition of its
status as a carbon creditor, with a view to securing the funds to support
necessary mitigation and adaptation efforts.
B. That a review is conducted of the current domestic legal framework to
ensure that where the rights of Filipino people are adversely affected by
climate change, the victims can claim compensation directly from
‘polluters’ (eg the principal economic operators profiting from the
production and supply of fossil fuels). The framework should incorporate ‘the
effects doctrine’, and promote ‘access to justice’, recognizing the public
interest in facilitating such claims. In Brazil, for example, the Constitution
grants any citizen the right to bring a legal action to protect the environment,
providing that such action will not incur judicial costs unless it has been
brought in bad faith.
24
See, for example, the Carbon Budget Accounting Tool (CBAT), which supports,
interrogation of scientific projections with a view to precautionary, risk-based policy
development under conditions of uncertainty
(http://www.gci.org.uk/CBAT_AUBREY/CBAT/index.html#domain-1).
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