No doubt, the duty of Philippine courts is to give force and effect to the prohibitions, regulations and obligations found in multilateral environmental agreements, whether or not they have been transposed into local laws. 117 This is even more relevant in the light of increasing environmental challenges that are transboundary in nature such as climate change; and where domestic laws are traditionally limited to regulating and addressing problems within national boundaries such as in the Philippines. Therefore, the Petitioners appeal for the Honourable Commission’s wise, novel and courageous investigation to hold accountable the big, powerful, multinational Carbon Majors for the human rights implications of climate change and ocean acidification. 8. Recent developments in international climate law and foreign climate legal actions, cases, and investigations warrant official or administrative notice. There have been a number of recent developments concerning climate change since this Petition was filed with the Commission on September 22, 2015. The Petitioners request that the Honorable Commission take official or administrative notice of the recent developments in international climate law and foreign legal actions, cases, and investigations concerning climate change, some of which are “reminiscent”118 of the tobacco investigations and cases of the 1990s. The parties, facts, scientific bases, and legal grounds in the recent actions, cases, and investigations are similar or relevant to or have a bearing in this Petition. This section provides an overview of (a) the Paris Agreement and (b) climate-related legal actions, cases, and investigations that are relevant to this Petition. a. Paris Agreement On December 12, 2015, the historic Paris Agreement was agreed by 195 nations. The UNFCCC Secretariat proclaimed: The Paris Agreement for the first time brings all nations into a common cause based on their historic, current and future responsibilities. The universal agreement’s main aim is to keep a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 117 In a public lecture on environmental law and protection at the Graduate School of the University of Sto. Tomas, Manila, Nov. 20, 2010. 118 D. Zegart, Senior Fellow at the Climate Investigations Center, Interview, The Real News Network, ExxonMobil Investigation Reminiscent of Tobacco Wars of 1990s, http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=16015 (last accessed Apr. 19, 2016). ! 37! ! ! ! ! !