88
5. Compliance with State Regulations Regarding
Climate Change
Lastly, enterprises must comply, cooperate, and not hinder State regulations involving
climate change and human rights. This is in accordance with the responsibility laid
out in the UNGP-BHR, which provides that:
In all contexts, business enterprises should:
1. Comply with all applicable laws and respect internationally
recognized human rights, wherever they operate;
2. Seek ways to honour the principles of internationally
recognized human rights when faced with conflicting
requirements;
3. Treat the risk of causing or contributing to gross human
rights abuses as a legal compliance issue wherever they
operate.424
Hence, enterprises must comply with the Nationally Determined Commitments
of States who are parties to the Paris Agreement and, in general, comply with the
targets set by science such as those provided by the IPCC as previously discussed.
VIII. Carbon Majors in the Context of Climate Change
A. Anthropogenic Contributions to Climate Change is
Quantifiable and Substantial
The IPCC AR5 attributes climate change predominantly to anthropogenic increases
in GHG concentrations.425 It states that more than half of the increase in global mean
surface temperature (GMST) from 1951 to 2010 is very likely due to such an increase in
anthropogenic GHG concentrations.426 It also observed that the atmospheric concentration
of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide has increased to unprecedented levels in
at least the last 800,000 years. Carbon dioxide concentrations, primarily from fossil fuel
emissions, have increased by 40 percent since pre-industrial times and about 30 percent
424
UNGP-BHR, supra note 313 (Principle 23).
425
IPCC AR5 WG1 at 60 & 869.
426
Id. at 869.
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