CHR to hold climate change inquiry on ‘carbon majors’

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) will hold next week a series of hearings as part of its inquiry on the alleged role of the so-called carbon majors in the destruction caused by climate change in the Philippines.

Invited to attend the hearings on Wednesday and Thursday are representatives of the companies named in the petition and the various environment groups that filed it over two years ago.

“The hearings form part of a series to be conducted by the commission in response to a petition urging it to look into the impacts of climate change on the human rights of the Filipino people and the alleged responsibility therefore of the so-called ‘carbon majors’,” the CHR said.

Filed in September 2015 by various environment groups including Greenpeace, the petition alleged that certain companies have to be held accountable for their role in global warming due to their huge contribution to carbon dioxide and methane emissions to the earth’s atmosphere.

They cited various studies that attribute destructive weather phenomena such as severe typhoons to climate change caused by global warming.

The respondents include companies such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Lafarge, Holcim and Taiheiyo Cement Corp.