PRESS RELEASE
13 December 2018
CHR concluded landmark inquiry on the effects of climate change to human rights;
expects to set the precedent in seeking climate justice
The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines’ panel conducting an inquiry to
determine the impact of climate change on the human rights of the Filipino people officially
concluded its public hearing yesterday, December 12. The first pre-hearing conference was
conducted by the Panel on December 11, 2017, while the public hearings began in March,
2018.
At the closure of the public hearings, Panel Chairman Commissioner Roberto Cadiz said that
climate change was a human rights issue, a global issue, and an existential issue.
Commissioner Cadiz described the process of their inquiry as dialogical, rather than
adversarial. He likewise revealed that they embarked on a global dialogue on climate change,
recognizing the trans-boundary character of the issue. The panel received amici briefs and other
submissions from advocates, legal and scientific experts, and the academe from around the
globe on the various issues concerning the case.
Previous to the filing of the climate change petition before the Philippine Commission,
Commissioner Cadiz explained that cases have been filed by various parties before regular
courts in different jurisdictions, attempting to attribute climate change largely to the activities
of oil producers and the failure of governments to regulate them. These efforts have so far
failed to establish judicial consensus on the matter. Thus, attempts have been made to explore
non-judicial mechanisms for addressing the issue, such as by framing climate change as a
human rights case before a human rights institution.
In 2005, the Inuit people first attempted to establish a nexus between climate change and human
rights in a case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a mechanism under
the Organization of American States. The Inter-American Commission, however, refused to
consider the case, holding that “(the) information provided by the (Inuits) does not enable (the
commission) to determine whether the alleged facts would tend to characterize a violation of
rights protected by the American Declaration.”
CHR: Dignity of all
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