6 February 2018

The Philippines Human Rights Commission is set to confront carbon majors over their climate change impact with hearings in Manila, New York and London this year... Commissioner Roberto Cadiz urged the targeted companies, which include Chevron, ExxonMobil and BP, to engage. “The reason why we are holding two hearings outside Manila is to make this a very inclusive process... We do understand that most of the respondent companies are not prepared to travel all the way to Manila to participate… We continue to invite the respondents to participate in this process, because if they do not, we might come up with certain recommendations that will be adverse to their interests and they will only have themselves to blame.”

... Since campaigners led by Greenpeace Southeast Asia lodged the petition in 2015, the response from its targets has been muted. Half of the 47 companies, whose products generated around a fifth of historic greenhouse gas emissions, did not respond. Those that did questioned the commission’s jurisdiction, or argued it was for governments, not private companies, to tackle climate change... So far, the commission has consulted communities hit by intense tropical storms and environmental changes, gathering stories of how these affected their rights to food, water, health, homes and – in some cases – life. The next stage is to establish how much of that lived experience can be attributed to climate change, and the extent of the respondents’ responsibility. Hearings are due to start in Manila in March, with the overseas sessions likely to follow in the second half of 2018.