According to experts, “[t]here is great potential for carbon sequestration projects in the Philippines, primarily due to its biophysical condition and the presence of land areas that could and should be reforested.”18 It is important to emphasize that the 350 ppm target cannot be accomplished without this significant drawdown of atmospheric carbon and that such a drawdown is distinct from reducing emissions. Both CO2 emissions reductions and 100 GtC drawdown are required to restore climate stability. It is essential that the Commission declare this scientific standard for protecting the rights of Filipino children and future generations from the dangerous threats posed by unabated climate destabilization, threats that have been significantly caused by the actions and inactions of the Carbon Majors named in the Petition to this Commission. This standard must guide the investigation of the obligations of Carbon Majors identified by the Petition to fulfill their human rights obligations and to remedy the human rights violations suffered by petitioners, Filipino children, and future generations of Filipinos. Carbon Majors bear substantial responsibility for the climate impacts and human rights violations already suffered by Filipinos, and must cease infringing upon the rights of Filipino children and future generations. There is a small window of opportunity for States and Carbon Majors to take the urgent science-based action needed to protect human rights and mitigate catastrophic climate change. However, any further delay increases the danger of passing critical climate tipping points which would lead to runaway heating and produce survival-threatening changes that would be irreversible on any time scale relevant to current and future generations of Filipinos. 19 States and Carbon Majors that continue to allow, through their cumulative action and inaction, global temperature increases to approach 1.5 ºC or higher, are violating the rights of Filipino children and future generations and must be held accountable. By establishing a scientific standard for climate stability and the protection of the rights of Filipinos, this Commission will not only clarify the human rights obligations owed to the Filipino people by the Carbon Majors, but will also assist the government of the Philippines in fulfilling its constitutional public trust obligations to the Filipino people (discussed in Section III, infra). http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/Publications/files/paper/PP0182-06.pdf; Rodel D. Lasco et al., World Agroforestry Centre, Credits where credit’s due: a guide to community-level carbon forestry project development (2014); see also I. A. Janssens et al., The Carbon Budget of Terrestrial Ecosystems at Country-Scale—a European Case Study, 2 Biogeosciences 15, 23-25 (2005); Robert Lal, Soil Carbon Sequestration Impacts on Global Climate Change and Food Security, 304 Science 1623, 1623-1626 (2004); Rodale Institute, Regenerative Organic Agriculture and Climate Change: A Down-to-Earth Solution to Global Warming, http://rodaleinstitute.org/assets/WhitePaper.pdf (last visited Dec. 6, 2016). 18 Rodel D. Lasco et al., Potential Carbon Sequestration Projects in The Philippines, 131 (2005). 19 Exhibit B, at 3,4. Indeed, models indicate that under a business-as-usual scenario, the effects of anthropogenic GHG emissions will continue to affect the climate 100,000 years from now. Committee on the Importance of DeepTime Geologic Records for Understanding Climate Change Impacts, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources; Division on Earth and Life Studies National Research Council, Understanding Earth’s Deep Past: Lessons for Our Climate Future, 79 (2011), http://www.nap.edu/download/13111 (last visited Aug. 18, 2016). Our Children’s Trust Amicus Curiae Brief 4