Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of the United Nations. The report categorically states that, “there exists broad agreement that climate change generally negatively effects the realization of human rights.”19 The 2009 OHCHR report also “stresses the importance of accountability mechanisms in the implementation of measures and policies in the area of climate change and requires access to administrative and judicial remedies in cases of human rights violations.”20 In October 2014, the Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council issued a joint letter on the implications of climate change for human rights, which stated in part: [W]e call on the State Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to ensure full coherence between their solemn human rights obligations and their efforts to address climate change, one of the greatest human rights challenges of our time. A safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment is indispensable to the full enjoyment of human rights, including rights to life, health, food, water and housing, among many others…. The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) brings into sharp focus the grave harm that climate change is already causing, and will continue to cause, to the environment on which we all depend. There can no longer be any doubt that climate change interferes with the enjoyment of human rights recognized and protected by international law.21 In May 2015, the Climate Vulnerable Forum, chaired by the Philippines, submitted a memorandum and three independent reports to Ms. Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC Secretariat. The independent reports are appended herewith as Annexes “B,” “B1,” “B-2,” and “B-3” respectively. Based on the reports, the Climate Vulnerable Forum found that the UNFCCC target of limiting global temperature rise to 2°C is “‘inadequate,’ posing serious threats to fundamental human rights, labour and migration and displacement, among other factors.”22 The Petitioners believe that the findings in the report on labour underscore the !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 19 United Nations Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Relationship Between Climate Change and Human Rights, Tenth Session, Jan. 15, 2009 at 23, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/HRAndClimateChange/Pages/Study.aspx (last accessed June 15, 2015). 20 Id. at 27. 21 M. Addo, et al., A New Climate Change Agreement Must Include Human Rights Protections for All, Oct. 17, 2014 at 1, http://srenvironment.org/wpDcontent/uploads/2014/10/LetterDtoDUNFCCCDFINAL (last accessed on Apr. 16, 2016). 22 Climate Vulnerable Forum, 20 Nations Call to Strengthen 2 Degrees Climate Goal, May 1, 2015, http://www.thecvf.org/20-nation-forum-questions-unfccc-2-degrees-goal/ (last accessed June 15, 2015). ! 9! ! ! ! ! !