Submission in Support of Petitioners Case No. CHR-NI-2016-0001 and achieving the target of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels should… be the objective of all climate action.”78 Countries in Asia and the Pacific are particularly vulnerable to public health problems caused by climate change. This is due in large part to the tropical climate, which means that these countries experience greater risks from more severe tropical cyclones, more intense monsoons, expanding disease vectors, and heat waves. Another key concern in the Philippines is malnutrition due to disruptions in food supply caused by rising temperatures, drought, and extreme weather events.79 There is evidence that climate change has already contributed to severe droughts in the Philippines over the past three decades, which have in turn contributed to increases in food scarcity as well as rural unrest and mass migration (with corresponding impacts on public health).80 Observed increases in the frequency of severe typhoons, flooding events, and heat waves have also contributed to adverse public health impacts in the Philippines.81 3. Right to Clean Water and Sanitation The UN General Assembly has recognized that all persons have a “right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.”82 Climate change will seriously affect the availability of freshwater through reductions in precipitation and a higher risk of drought; reductions in snowpack driven by rising temperatures and changes in the type of precipitation (rain instead of drought); increased evapotranspiration that results from higher temperatures; sea level rise, which will contribute to saltwater intrusion into freshwater aquifers; and more intense storms, rainfall, and flooding, which can lead to contamination of freshwater sources. Reductions in freshwater availability, flooding, and sea level rise can also adversely affect sanitation systems (e.g., when wastewater treatment plants flood and when sufficient water is not available for hygienic needs). With four degrees of warming, the increase in water scarcity could have devastating results on food production and public health in many countries. 78 Id. at ¶ 55. PAGASA (2011), supra note 10, at 51. 80 Warren (2013), supra note 17. 81 Xerxes T. Seposo et al., Evaluating the Effects of Temperature on Mortality in Manila City (Philippines) from 2006-2010 Using a Distributed Lag Nonlinear Model, 12(6) INT. J. ENVIRON. RES. PUBLIC HEALTH 6842 (2015); de la Cruz (2014), supra note 71. 82 UN General Assembly, Resolution Adopted by the General Assembly on 28 July 2010: The Human Right to Water and Sanitation, ¶ 1,UN Doc. A/RES/64/292 (Aug. 3, 2010). 79 Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School 17