Greenpeace to PBBM: Use ICJ ruling to make climate polluters pay
24 July 2025, Quezon City — A landmark advisory opinion issued Wednesday by the International Court of Justice (ICJ)[1] can pave the way for Filipino communities to seek reparations from the world’s biggest climate polluters. Greenpeace is challenging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who delivers his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, to lead the way in pursuing climate accountability by taking fossil fuel companies to court and enacting strong policies for corporate climate accountability.
The challenge comes as the country continues to be assailed by extreme rains brought on by a Southwest Monsoon (Habagat) intensified by three tropical storms, in the space of a week. At present, communities around the country are still bracing for flooding and landslides. Over 2.7 million Filipinos have been affected so far, at least twelve have lost their lives, and infrastructure damage is raking in at over 3.7 billion pesos and climbing.
“The ruling of the world’s highest court marks the start of a new era of climate accountability on a global scale, and a turning point in the march for climate justice,” said Greenpeace Senior Campaigner Virginia Benosa-Llorin. “The President would be extremely negligent if he ignores the opportunity this offers for new legal actions against polluters, particularly those whose activities have significantly contributed to the climate crisis.”
Greenpeace says that the Advisory Opinion could compel major polluters to cut emissions while healing harms with climate reparations. The Court’s decision obligates States to regulate businesses on the harm caused by their emissions regardless of where the harm takes place. Significantly, the Court found that the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is fundamental for all other human rights, and that intergenerational equity should guide the interpretation of all climate obligations.
“The message of the Court is clear: the production, consumption and granting of licenses and subsidies for fossil fuels could be breaches of International Law. Polluters must stop emitting and must pay for the harms they have caused,” said Benosa-Llorin.
“At Monday’s SONA, we want to see President Marcos, Jr. take up the cudgels for the millions of Filipinos constantly besieged by extreme weather. We want to hear him declare that we will demand climate reparations as a nation, and that he will enact the Climate Accountability (CLIMA) Bill.”[2]
Greenpeace activists conducted a creative protest in flooded neighborhoods in Rizal and Bulacan on Wednesday,[3] to spotlight the urgent need for climate accountability. Images from the action have gone viral on social media, capturing public outrage and underscoring how climate impacts are becoming impossible to ignore.
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References:
[1] ICJ Summary of the Advisory Opinion of 23 July 2025 | Written Replies of the Republic of the Philippines 20 Dec 2024
[2] Philippine congress files world’s first climate accountability bill
[3] Greenpeace to PBBM: The Real State of the Nation Demands Climate Accountability
Notes to the Editor:
Greenpeace is calling on President Marcos Jr to:
- Demand payment for climate loss and damage from fossil fuel companies and rich nations alike, and championing the Climate Damages Tax and other innovative sources of finance to ensure not just adequate funding, but, importantly, payment from corporations, for loss and damage;
- Call for an end to oil and gas expansion, and for a fossil fuel phase out
- Steer the country towards a just transition;
- Speed up the passage of, and enact, the Climate Accountability Bill; and
- Start the process of litigating the world’s biggest oil and gas companies for climate impact damages to the Filipino people.
Photos are available HERE.
Photo Credit: © Noel Celis / Greenpeace
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For requests for interviews and other information, please contact:
Karl Orit, Greenpeace Philippines, Communications Campaigner
[email protected] | +63 919 4571064
