Memorandum for the Petitioners | 27
show the potential interactions among the tipping elements based on expert elicitation that could generate
cascades. Note that, although the risk for tipping (loss of) the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is proposed at >5 °C,
some marine-based sectors in East Antarctica may be vulnerable at lower temperatures (35-38).”””
5.7.
Even if GHG emissions are dramatically reduced now, some
effects are already locked in. This is because it can take from days to
thousands of years for GHGs to be removed from the atmosphere and parts of
the earth system, particularly the ocean, wherein it takes hundreds of years to
respond to GHGs and aerosol emissions.”8
B.
IPCC reports as material facts
5.8.
the climate
papers for
“agreement
and where
The IPCC assessment and special reports provide the basis for
science consensus. The IPCC assesses thousands of scientific
each report published to inform policymakers where there is
in the scientific community on topics related to climate change,
further research is needed.” The IPCC does not conduct its own
research, and it does not indicate what constitutes a “safe” level of warming.
5.9.
The IPCC
assessments and reports have been, and continue to
be, key inputs into the international negotiations to tackle climate change and
are drafted and reviewed in several stages, guaranteeing objectivity and
transparency. The summaries for policymakers present the key findings of
the special reports and are adopted by 195 state parties to the IPCC, including
the Philippines.” The findings in the special reports and assessments are,
therefore, material facts.
5.10. As correctly stated by ClientEarth in its Amicus Curiae Brief
dated 21 November 2016, “[t]he [Honorable] Commission may rely on the
findings of the IPCC, including the Fifth Assessment Report, as a fact.”®° The
District Court of the Hague in the 2015 case entitled, “Urgenda Foundation
v. State of the Netherlands,”®' took this approach and held that:
The UN Climate Change Convention also made
provision for the establishment of the IPCC as a global
knowledge institute. The IPCC reports have bundled the
knowledge of hundreds of scientists and to a great extent
represent the current climate science.
The IPCC is also an
7 Ibid.
8 IPCC 2014, Climate Change 2014 Synthesis Report, supra note 70.
79 IPCC, Press Release (08 October 2018), Summary for Policymakers of IPCC Special Report on Global
Warming of 1.5°C approved by governments, available at https://www.ipec.ch/2018/10/08/summary-forpolicymakers-of-ipcc-special-report-on-global-warming-of- 1-5c-approved-by-governments/ (last accessed
on 06 September 2019).
80 ClientEarth’s Amicus Curiae Brief, supra note 37.
5) See Exhibit “KKKKKKKK” to “KKKKKKKK-54,” Decision of the Hague District Court: Urgenda
Foundation v. The State of Netherlands (Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment Case No:
C/09/456689/ HA ZA 13-1396, dated 24 June 2015; and Exhibit “LLLLLLLL” to “LLLLLLLL-19”
Decision of the Hague Court of Appeal: The State of the Netherlands v. Urgenda Foundation Case No:
C/09/456689/ HA ZA 13-1396, dated 09 October 2018.
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