"Joint Summary of the Amicus Curiae Briefs", 26 March 2018

On May 9, 2016, Greenpeace Southeast Asia and the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement along with other individuals and non-governmental organizations in the Philippines filed a petition with the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines requesting an investigation of the responsibility of the Carbon Majors for human rights violations or threats of violations resulting from the impacts of climate change. The legal scholars, experts, and human rights practitioners listed hereunder submitted amicus curiae briefs in support of the Petitioners in this critical and globally significant proceeding.

...Key findings [include]:

• The Commission’s mandate to investigate the claims raised in the Petition is wellfounded, both in national law as well as in international law practice...
• States’ human rights obligations demand effective investigations into the human rights violations alleged by the Petitioners...
• The harmful effects of climate change pose an enormous threat to human rights in the Philippines and abroad... [including] rights to life, health, clean water and sanitation, food, adequate housing, self-determination and development, and equality and non-discrimination...
• The Carbon Majors have long known that the production and use of their products contribute substantially to climate change, which continues to have significant impacts and adverse consequences for people... [and] knowingly advanced or promoted deliberately misleading information.