Good morning. I am honored to appear today before the Philippines
Commission on Human Rights.
My name is Marcos Orellana. I am the director of the Environment and Human
Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch is an independent,
international organization that defends the rights of people worldwide. We
investigate human rights abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those
with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch has done
research and advocacy on human rights issues in the Philippines for more than
25 years. My area of expertise is public international law, having lectured and
published in the field for more than 20 years.
The case before you has great significance for millions of people who are, and
will be, impacted by climate change. It also has great significance for
humanity´s sense of justice and responsibility towards the totality of life on the
planet.
In the time available to me, I will speak about two questions that directly
concern the responsibilities of carbon majors—the largest companies producing
crude oil, natural gas, coal, and cement who are also the world’s biggest
greenhouse gas emitters—for human rights impacts resulting from climate
change. The first question: What are the responsibilities of business enterprises
under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights? The
second, what are the key elements of the recent advisory opinion on human
rights and the environment rendered by the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights?
I. The Responsibilities of Business Enterprises under the United Nations Guiding
Principles on Business and Human Rights
The first question concerns the corporate responsibility to respect human rights.
Back in 2011 the UN Human Rights Council adopted, by consensus, the UN
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These Guiding Principles reflect
high-level agreement after decades of debate at the international level over
the human rights responsibilities of business enterprises. One of the key
achievements of the Guiding Principles was precisely their ability to gather
political consensus at the United Nations.
The UN Guiding Principles guide the implementation of the “Protect, Respect
and Remedy” framework that the Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral on human rights and transnational corporations and other business
enterprises, John Ruggie, presented to the Human Rights Council in 2008. Under
this framework, governments have obligations to protect against corporaterelated human rights abuses, business enterprises have responsibilities to respect
all human rights, and victims are entitled to an effective remedy. Concise as it is,
this framework reflects international legal developments in the field of business
and human rights.
Marcos Orellana – Remarks for Philippines CHR 23 & 24 May Hearing
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