marketed by the Carbon Majors projects are therefore linked to both climate change and ocean acidification. The Petitioners request that the Commission consider ocean acidification, in addition to climate change, in investigating the Carbon Majors’ duty to respect human rights. While climate change is the consequence of a suite of greenhouse gases causing the earth to absorb more of the sun’s energy, ocean acidification is caused primarily by increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolving into the ocean. It is estimated that approximately 25-30% of the CO2 emitted by human activities has been absorbed by the oceans,53 buffering to some degree the increase in atmospheric concentrations, but at the same time bringing about fundamental changes to ocean carbon chemistry.54 Given the most recent estimates for annual global emissions of CO2 (around 32 Gt in 2014), it can be estimated that human activities are contributing approximately of 1 million tonnes of CO2 pollution to the global oceans every hour.55 The resulting increase in acidity (decrease in pH) observed over the last 200 years likely exceeds pH changes experienced at any time over at least the last 55 million years in terms of both extent and speed of change.56 For details on a background of ocean acidification, see appended Annex “F-1.” The adverse impacts of climate change and ocean acidification have harmed or increased the risk of harm to the Filipino people, on top of or in addition to the damage resulting from devastating natural disasters. These harms resulting from the impacts of climate change, including the risk of increased storm intensity, and ocean acidification affect the exercise and enjoyment of Filipinos’ human rights. Issue At the heart of this petition is the question of whether or not the Respondent Carbon Majors must account for—being the largest corporate contributors of greenhouse gases emissions and having so far failed to curb those emissions despite the companies’ knowledge of the harm caused, capacity to do so, and potential involvement in activities that have or may be undermining climate science and action—the human rights implications of climate change and ocean acidification. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 53 C. Le Quéré & M.R. Raupach & J.G. Canadell & G. Marland L. Bopp & P. Ciais & T.J. Conway & S.C. Doney & R.A. Feely & P. Foster & P. Friedlingstein & K. Gurney & R.A. Houghton & J.I. House & C. Huntingford & P.E. Levy & M.R. Lomas & J. Majkut & N. Metzl & J.P. Ometto, J.P G.P. Peters & I.C. Prentice & J.T. Randerson & S.W. Running & J.L. Sarmiento & U. Schuster & S.Sitch & T. Takahashi & N. Viovy & G.R. van der Werf & F.I. Woodward, Trends in the Sources and Sinks of Carbon Dioxide, 2 NATURE GEOSCIENCE, 831 (2009). 54 C. Turley, C. (2013) Chapter 2: Ocean Acidification (2013). In: K.J. Noone, U.R. Sumaila, R.J. Diaz [Eds], Managing Ocean Environments in a Changing Climate: Sustainability and Economic Perspectives, (2013) at 15. 55 Brewer, P. G. A Changing Ocean Seen with Clarity, 106(30) PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 12213 (2009) [herinafter Turley]. 56 A. Ridgwell & D. N. Schmidt, Past Constraints on the Vulnerability of Marine Calcifiers to Massive Carbon Dioxide Release, 3 NATURE GEOSCIENCE, 196 (2010); Turley, supra note 54. ! 24! ! ! ! ! !