Nearly seven years after initiating its landmark National Inquiry on Climate Change, the Philippines Commission on Human Rights released its final report in May.
The original petition asked the Commission to consider the role of the world’s largest fossil fuel producing companies – the Carbon Majors – in driving the climate crisis, obstructing climate action, and contributing to resulting climate harms. Over that seven year period, CIEL supported the petitioners and the Commission with amicus briefs, expert testimony, and documentary evidence. Informed by expert testimony and analysis from an array of civil society organizations, scientists, and communities, the Commission’s comprehensive report concluded that the Carbon Majors have contributed to the global climate crisis at a scale that is quantifiable and significant, and they have delayed and derailed climate action through wilful obfuscation of climate science. The Commission amassed the largest, most comprehensive body of official, sworn eyewitness and expert testimonies, documentary evidence, and legal analysis publicly available anywhere in the world with respect to the climate responsibilities of Carbon Majors companies. Our rapid legal analysis of the findings helped make this report and the extensive supporting evidence more accessible to journalists and partners alike, and encouraged others to use them as a tool for ongoing accountability efforts.
