Secretary and Vice Chairperson of the Philippine Climate Change Commission, Emmauel de Guzman, played in ensuring human rights are a bedrock principle of the Paris Agreement.125 b. Climate Cases and Investigations There are a number of climate-related legal actions, cases, and investigations that are similar or relevant to or have a bearing in this Petition. The developments fall into two categories: (1) legal developments challenging government action or lack thereof concerning climate policy and practices; and (2) legal developments challenging corporate inaction concerning climate harm and corporations’ knowledge of the threats of climate change. As climate law develops and the harms associated with climate change intensify, those harmed will continue pursue claims using various legal theories, e.g. negligence and product liability, and rules to assign liability, e.g. market share approach, material contribution test, globally detectable emissions, significant contribution, co-mingled contribution approaches.126 The following section provides an overview of recent developments, including the procedural status of the actions, the claims made, and the dispositions (if applicable). The Petitioners anticipate the developments in the area of climate law to continue at a rapid pace and will update the Honorable Commission as necessary and appropriate. b.1. Challenges to Government Actions or Lack Thereof Concerning Climate Policy and Practices In the Netherlands and the United States, there are three cases that are relevant to this Petition. Two of these cases are still ongoing but may already provide some useful insight to climate claims touching upon human rights. b.1.1. State Negligence: Urgenda Foundation v. The State of the Netherlands On June 24, 2016, the Hague District Court ruled in favour of the Urgenda Foundation, an NGO representing 886 individuals, ordering the State of the Netherlands (State) to take more stringent action to avert the imminent danger caused by climate change. The Court ordered the !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 125 P. Ranada, PH on Paris Climate Pact: Monumental Feat for Humanity, Rappler, Dec. 13, 2015, http://www.rappler.com/nation/115821-philippines-paris-agreement-climate-change (last accessed on Apr. 19, 2016). 126 See A. Gage and M. Byers, Payback Time: What the Internationalization of Climate Change Litigation Means for Canadian Oil and Gas Companies, West Coast Environmental Law and Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, at 6, 20-22, Oct. 2014, http://wcel.org/sites/default/files/publications/Payback%20Time.pdf (last accessed on Apr. 19, 2016); A. Gage, Climate Change Litigation and the Public Right to a Healthy Atmosphere, 24 J. ENV. L. & PRAC. 257 (Nov. 12, 2015). ! 39! ! ! ! ! !