CHR-NI-2016-0001 Supplementary Memorandum by Resource Person, Katherine Lofts
Republic of the Philippines Commission on Human Rights
CHR-NI-2016-0001 In Re: National inquiry on the impact of climate change
on the human rights of the Filipino People
Supplementary Memorandum to the Commission by Resource Person
Katherine Lofts, Research Associate, Law, Governance & Society Lab at
McGill University
I appeared before the Philippine Commission on Human Rights on September 27th,
2018, in New York City, as part of the Commission’s 4th public hearing. I was
presented by the Petitioners as a resource person, and invited to share my expertise
on economic, social and cultural rights and climate change, and on how climate
change acts as a threat multiplier with respect to these rights.
During the hearing, the Commissioners requested further information in the form of
a written submission outlining climate change-related cases that have incorporated
human rights considerations. This memorandum provides a survey of these key
cases, highlighting the human rights aspects of each case.1
(1) Petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Seeking Relief
from Violations Resulting from Global Warming Caused by Acts and
Omissions of the United States
Filing date: 2005
Status: Petition denied
Jurisdiction: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
This petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) was the
first case to draw a link between climate change and human rights. It was filed by
Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an Inuk woman and Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar
Conference, on behalf of all Inuit of the Arctic regions of the United States and
Canada.
The petitioners alleged that the United States was violating their human rights
through their contribution to global warming, including their rights to the benefits of
culture, to property, to the preservation of health, life, physical integrity, security,
and a means of subsistence, and to residence, movement, and inviolability of the
home. They requested that the Commission recommend that the United States adopt
mandatory measures to limit its greenhouse gas emissions, consider the impacts of
greenhouse gas emissions on the Arctic in evaluating all major government actions,
establish and implement a plan to protect Inuit culture and resources, and provide
assistance necessary for Inuit to adapt to the impacts of climate change that cannot
be avoided.
1
These brief summaries focus on human rights issues, and do not describe all the legal
arguments and elements of each case. For more detailed case summaries and related case
documents, see: Columbia University, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, in collaboration
with Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, “Climate Change Litigation Databases”, online:
<http://climatecasechart.com/>. The case summaries in this memorandum also draw from these
databases.
1