global emissions of CO2 (around 32 Gt in 2014), it can be estimated that human activities are contributing approximately of 1 million tonnes of CO2 pollution to the global oceans every hour.54 The resulting increase in acidity (decrease in pH) observed over the last 200 years likely exceeds pH changes experienced at any time over at least the last 55 million years in terms of both extent and speed of change.55 For details on a background of ocean acidification, see appended Annex “F-1.” The adverse impacts of climate change and ocean acidification have harmed or increased the risk of harm to the Filipino people, on top of or in addition to the damage resulting from devastating natural disasters. These harms resulting from the impacts of climate change, including the risk of increased storm intensity, and ocean acidification affect the exercise and enjoyment of Filipinos’ human rights. Issue At the heart of this petition is the question of whether or not the Respondent Carbon Majors must be held accountable—being the largest corporate contributors of greenhouse gases emissions and having so far failed to curb those emissions despite the companies’ knowledge of the harm caused, capacity to do so, and potential involvement in activities that may be undermining climate action—for the human rights implications of climate change and ocean acidification. Discussion Petitioners assert that the investor-owned Carbon Majors must be held to account. We cite the following as grounds for this assertion: 1. The corporate responsibility to respect human rights is articulated in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,56 which reflect norms and standards on the responsibility of corporate actors. The Guiding Principles explicitly call on companies to respect human rights.57 As stated in the Guiding Principles, corporate responsibility to respect human rights is not optional—it                                                                                                                         54 Brewer, P. G. A Changing Ocean Seen with Clarity, 106(30) PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 12213 (2009) [herinafter Turley]. 55 A. Ridgwell & D. N. Schmidt, Past Constraints on the Vulnerability of Marine Calcifiers to Massive Carbon Dioxide Release, 3 NATURE GEOSCIENCE, 196 (2010); Turley, supra note 54. 56 Guiding Principles, supra note 24. 57 International Bar Association Climate Change and Human Rights Task Force Report, Achieving Justice and Human Rights in an Era of Climate Disruption, July 2014, at 147-153. Available at http://www.ibanet.org/PresidentialTaskForceCCJHR2014.             17