MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines, one of the countries most at risk from the impacts of climate change, should actively engage in the proceedings of the world’s top court tasked to outline the legal obligations of governments for curbing global emissions, a group said.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution asking the International Court of Justice to lay out nations’ obligations to climate change and the legal consensus of inaction. The measure was hailed as a victory for the climate justice movement.
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The ICJ will hold hearings and request submissions over the next few months, and an advisory opinion will be issued in 2024.
“Filipino communities, who have suffered the brunt of climate impacts for decades, deserve to have their voices represented in this discussion,” Greenpeace Philippines campaigner Virginia Benosa-Llorin said in a statement.
She added that the Marcos administration should represent the interests of Filipinos in seeking climate justice as well as payment for loss and damage.
Benosa-Llorin noted that the Philippines can substantially contribute to the proceedings.
In 2022, the Commission on Human Rights issued a report on the obligations of governments and businesses in tackling climate change, which is also a human rights issue. The report of the CHR was one of the first proceedings globally to have examined the links between climate impacts and human rights harms.
Benosa-Llorin said the findings and recommendations in the CHR report could be a key source of information for ICJ’s discussions and could further strengthen the case for an advisory opinion in favor of climate-vulnerable nations.
Although ICJ opinions are not binding, they carry significant legal and moral weight, and are often taken into account by national courts.
“This gives Filipinos hope that we can demand more ambitious climate action and an end to fossil fuel extraction and expansion in order to secure the survival of present and future generations,” Benosa-Llorin said. — with report from Agence France-Presse