31 2.68. These international environmental agreements further support the Honorable Commission’s exercise of authority to investigate the human rights harms resulting from climate change and the ways in which the respondents have caused or contributed to these harms. For example, the Paris Agreement -- signed in April 2016 and ratified in December 2016 -explicitly acknowledges that Parties should take human rights into account when taking climate action, e.g. mitigation and adaptation, to wit: “Acknowledging that climate change is a common concern of humankind, Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity.”124 2.69. On 07 November 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte, pledged to honor the Paris Agreement after an almost unanimous vote by his Cabinet.125 The commitments set forth in the Paris Agreement -- including the human rights reference -- provide clear policy reference to the Commission on the need to take human rights into account in all climate actions, thus strengthening petitioners’ position that the Honorable Commission has the authority to conduct this national public inquiry. 2.70. In addition, for the reasons discussed below, the Honorable Commission has authority to investigate the acts of the respondent Carbon Majors based on the territoriality principle and, by extension, the effects doctrine. The United Nations International Law Commission in Appendix E to its 2006 Report (“ILC Report”) authoritatively summarizes the relevant principles of extraterritorial jurisdiction under international law.126 2.71. As described by the International Bar Association, the “starting point for jurisdiction is that all states have competence over events occurring and persons (whether nationals, residents or otherwise) present in their territory. This principle, known as the ‘principle of territoriality,’ is the most common and least controversial basis for jurisdiction. In addition, 124 supra., note 123. Ramos, M. Duterte to Sign Paris Climate Pact, 08 November 2016, available at https://globalnation.inquirer.net/149132/duterte-to-sign-paris-climate-pact, last accessed on 08 February 2017. 126 Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifty-eighth session, V, pp. 516-540, available at: http://legal.un.org/ilc/reports/2006/, last accessed on 06 February 2017. 125

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