Philippines initiates world’s first human rights investigation into corporate responsibility for climate change

We hope CEOs of companies look deep within their hearts and see how their profit harms people and the planet.

Isagani Serrano, president of the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement

“Many homes were destroyed during typhoon Yolanda and people died – including some I knew,” said Isagani Serrano, president of the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM), an organisation that provides support in the aftermath of disasters and one of the petitioners.

Filipino typhoon survivors, other communities suffering the impacts of climate change, and civil society organisations, including Greenpeace Southeast Asia (Philippines), petitioned the Commission for the investigation in 2015 (2), two years after super-typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) claimed the lives of more than 6,300 people and affected millions of others who have yet to recover (3).

Screengrab from Greenpeace video on protest after four years of Haiyan typhoon/

“International Human Rights Day should remind these companies why it’s important that they participate in the national inquiry. Extreme weather fuelled by climate change is making life worse for people on the frontlines of climate change,” said Yeb Saño, Executive Director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, who is also a petitioner in the investigation.

“Their basic rights to food, water, shelter, health, and even life are under threat. People have rights, states have duties, and companies have responsibilities to respect these rights. No oil, gas, or coal company has a right to pollute the climate, and those that undermine, threaten, and violate human rights must be held accountable.”

“The national inquiry in the Philippines is an opportunity to set the record straight on climate change and make sure these companies are as committed as society needs them to be to phasing out fossil fuels and ensuring that our future is powered by 100% renewable energy,” said Saño.

The Philippines national inquiry is one of a wave of people-powered legal actions taking place around the world.

Greenpeace Nordic and Nature and Youth in Norway, young people in the US, senior women in Switzerland, a Peruvian farmer in Germany, a law student in New Zealand, and many others, are taking legal action to seek protection from climate change.

The day before the Manila meeting is a very important day for all of humanity. 10 December is International Human Rights Day and the start of the one-year lead up to the 70th anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.