Greenpeace. (photo: AP)
Exxon
+ 49 Other Big Polluters Set to Be Investigated for Causing Extreme Weather
Events
By Kumi Naidoo, EcoWatch
12 November 15
few
weeks ago the first ever human rights legal
action seeking the accountability of the 50 big polluters was launched. Filed
by Filipino typhoon survivors and several environmental organizations, it
demands that the Philippines Human Rights Commission (CHR) investigate and
acknowledge the complicity of 50 investor-owned fossil fuel companies in
causingextreme weather events.
This
comes from a consensus that the typhoons and catastrophic storms that annually
batter the Philippines and many other small island nations, are exacerbated by
climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels by distant and faceless
energy companies. People in the Philippines know that they are at the end of a
terrible chain reaction that destroys homes, ruins health and takes lives and
livelihoods. It violates their basic human rights, so they, like many others,
are starting to seek climate justice.
They
are part of a growing number of people that will no longer stand for companies—despite
knowledge of the harms associated with their products—continuing to engorge
themselves on profit at the expense of the climate and human lives. These
companies are morally bound to help communities at the frontline of climate
change while financing a just transition to a 100 percent renewable energy
future.
Cases
of negligence, like the May 2014 Soma mine disaster in
Turkey, which took the lives of 311 workers and injured 80 others and
litigation by communities in Peru and Ecuador againstTexaco/Chevron over
claims of pollution are examples of people taking a stand against how fossil
fuel companies do business. The Philippines’ submission is a reflection of an
understanding that fossil fuel companies are acting in violation of human
rights in and of itself, no matter how carefully the company undertakes their
activity. In short, we and many others are declaring: it’s not the way you do
business, it’s the business itself.
This
story of many fossil fuel companies is sewn together by incompetence, corruption
and greed. It is a history of companies who relentlessly drive forward their
business with an irresponsible outlook and lack of empathy for people and the
planet. However, in the era of climate impacts and extreme weather events, the
story is changing.
The
top 50 investor-owned polluters under public scrutiny are taken from a list
of 90 entities who, according to a report by Rick
Heede, are responsible for 63 percent of the carbon dioxide and methane emitted
between 1751 and 2010.
Coalitions
of affected communities are developing jurisprudence that recognizes impacts of
climate change as a breach of human rights. If successful, this recognition
will lay the foundations for what is really required: attribution and action.
The
petition was submitted on behalf of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, the Philippine
Rural Reconstruction Movement and other local NGOs, with the support of the
International Trade Union Confederation, Amnesty International, NGO legal
experts and thousands of individuals. The broad coalition was put together
because success in fighting climate change will only occur when organizations
and individuals join hands across the globe to demand climate justice.
Climate
impacts like extreme weather events hit the most vulnerable first; working
people and the poor. With altered seasons and rising sea levels whole
communities and nations are already suffering from corporate malfeasance.
People are involved in every aspect of meeting this threat, from activists
campaigning for action on climate to workers in new industries to workers in
fossil fuel production.
While
virtually all countries continue to depend on burning fossil fuels to drive
economic growth, we know this must change rapidly and dramatically. Companies
must commit to leaving at least 80 percent of the fossil fuels in the ground if we want to
salvage any hope of maintaining a stable climate that allows humans and all
other life to survive. Companies must engage in this transformation in full
consultation with workers and communities to ensure the process is just.
We
know that our sons and daughters will work in energy in the future, but they
won’t work in fossil fuels. We demand that the workers who have brought us the
prosperity of today be treated justly and with due respect during the
transition to a renewable energy future. We are aiming for a result whereby the
Philippines CHR would acknowledge these historic responsibilities and begin
framing pathways for the just transition required.
The
final word on why we have taken this action is perhaps best described by Elma
Reyes, a mother of two who had her livelihood destroyed by Typhoon Rammasun
(known in the Philippines as Typhoon Glenda):
“They say it’s going to be our way of life from now on, where
typhoons will be more intense and affect our livelihood. If that’s the case, I
won’t be able to provide for my family and feed my children. I won’t give up
and allow big companies to continue to ruin the environment and fuel climate
change.”
We
encourage the Commission for Human Rights to commit to investigating the big
polluters for their human rights violations as a matter of urgency.
C 2015
Reader Supported News
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"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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