Quezon City —  Greenpeace Philippines welcomed the filing of House Resolution No. 1074[1], which seeks to align Philippine climate action with recent landmark international climate rulings and resolutions, including the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution supporting the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) advisory opinion on climate change, and the advisory opinion of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, among others. The group said the move could help accelerate the passage of legislation that would hold climate polluters accountable and require them to pay for the harms they have caused.

Greenpeace Philippines, together with the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center and community leaders from Marikina, joined the first regular session of the 19th Congress as Congressman Edgar Chatto of Bohol made a privilege speech about the worsening climate impacts and the need for a climate finance facility for loss and damage caused by climate polluters. In celebration of Climate Change Consciousness Week and following the recent developments from the CoP27,Congressman Chatto shared the CLIMA Bill, or the Climate Accountability Bill. Possibly the first of its kind in the world, the CLIMA bill seeks to institute policiies and systems to address climate change, establishing the necessary instititutional mechanisms for the protection of the most vulnerable communities to loss and damage in the country.

The filing follows the UNGA’s overwhelming vote in favor of implementing the ICJ advisory opinion on states’ obligations regarding climate change.[2] Currently pending before the House Committee on Climate Change, House Resolution No. 1074 urges President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to align climate policies, legislation, and international engagements with the principles and obligations affirmed by the Court.

“The United Nations has spoken and lawmakers must act,” said Greenpeace Philippines Senior Climate Campaigner Virginia Benosa-Llorin. “The adoption of this resolution may help speed up the passing of  the Climate Accountability (CLIMA) Bill and bring us closer to holding major polluters accountable for decades of climate deception and destruction.”

“By moving this resolution forward, Congress is sending a clear signal: continued fossil fuel expansion, obstruction of climate action, and the deliberate distortion of climate science are not business as usual—they are acts that cause real harm to communities. This strengthens the legal and moral basis for regulating corporate polluters. The era of impunity for climate polluters must end,” Benosa-Llorin added.

The CLIMA Bill[3] seeks to transform the business practices of major climate-polluting corporations and establish mechanisms to hold them financially accountable for climate-related loss and damage suffered by communities. For countries like the Philippines – among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate impacts[4] despite contributing only a small share of global emissions – such measures are critical to ensuring that those most responsible for the crisis bear their fair share. 

“I highly commend the filing of this resolution, particularly its call for the Executive Branch to integrate and align the legal obligations articulated by the ICJ Advisory Opinion into domestic laws, policies, and climate action frameworks,” said Nicole Anne Ponce, global advocacy lead of World’s Youth for Climate Justice, who also works as a climate and human rights lawyer. “This includes ensuring that the Philippines’ positions in international climate negotiations, as well as the implementation and enhancement of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), are fully consistent with the obligations and standards clarified by the Court. As implementation becomes the defining challenge of this moment, such efforts are essential to translating international legal commitments into tangible outcomes for present and future generations.”

Greenpeace urged lawmakers to seize the momentum created by the landmark advisory opinion and the UNGA resolution by prioritizing measures that protect communities facing escalating climate impacts and hold major polluters accountable. As the country braces for El Niño while continuing to endure increasingly destructive floods, storms, and heat extremes, Filipinos continue to bear the costs of a climate crisis driven largely by fossil fuel companies’ actions.

“The science is clear, the impacts are undeniable, and the law is increasingly catching up with climate reality,” Benosa-Llorin said. “We urge President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Congress to seize this moment and fast-track the passage of the CLIMA Bill. While no law can undo the lives, livelihoods, and futures already lost to the climate crisis, holding climate polluters accountable is a crucial step toward justice, reparations, and a safer future for all Filipinos.”

Notes to the editor:

[1] Lawmakers from the House of Representatives filed House Resolution 1074 last June 1, 2026 to recognize climate change as a human rights and intergenerational justice emergency. The resolution welcomed the advisory opinions of the ICJ and International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in respect of climate change. It also welcomed UNGA’s decision on the AOs and urged the executive department to integrate them into Philippine climate policy, domestic legislation and international negotiations.

[2] UNGA heeds Pacific voices, backs world court on states’ climate obligations

[3] Landmark climate accountability law to make corporate polluters pay pushed in Congress

[4] WorldRiskReport 2025

For more information and interview requests, please contact:

James Relativo, Communications Campaigner
Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Philippines
[email protected] | +63919 069 3424

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