Given that all States emit greenhouse gases, 280 courts will need a framework to assess
what is reasonable and equitable. If, on balance, a State is found to have committed an
international legal wrong it is obliged to discontinue the wrongful act, 281 offer guarantees of nonrepetition,282 and provide full reparation for the consequences. 283 The purpose of reparation is to
wipe out, as far as possible, all the consequences of the illegal act and re-establish the situation,
which would have existed if the act had not been committed. 284 Reparation must therefore
include compensation for the costs of necessary prevention measures incurred by the victim (i.e.
the costs of adaptation).
Working in collaboration with the Global Commons Institute, and the University of the
South Pacific, Plan B has prepared charts for all countries revealing: 285
i)
ii)
their historic responsibility for climate change; and
their share of the remaining global carbon budget consistent with the Paris
Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C and “well below” 2°C.
The chart for the Philippines is reproduced below, 286 revealing that its emissions are just
a small fraction of the global average, resulting in a significant “carbon credit.”
Summary Conclusions
States should live up to their obligations to protect the human rights of individuals from
infringements by third parties, including corporations.
280
However, Bhutan is in fact net negative when forestry sequestration is taken into account.
Int’l Law Comm’n, Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, art. 30(a), reprinted in
[2001] Y.B. Int’l L. Comm’n, Vol. II, pt. 2, available at
http://legal.un.org/ilc/publications/yearbooks/english/ilc_2001_v2_p2.pdf.
282
Id. at art. 30(b).
283
Id. at art. 31(1).
284
Factory at Chorzow (Ger. v. Pol.), Merits, 1927 P.C.I.J. (ser. A) No. 9, p. 47 (July 26).
285
Crosland, Meyer & Wawerinke-Singh, supra note 277.
286
This chart is an updated version of the one included in Plan B’s original amicus brief. See Plan B brief, at p. 49.
281
57
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