Batangas, Philippines \u2013 Activists from Greenpeace Southeast Asia \u2013 Philippines unfurled a banner reading \u201cPEOPLE AND PLANET, NOT PROFIT\u201d from Shell\u2019s Batangas oil refinery today, sending a sharp reminder to Shell to attend upcoming hearings into the responsibility of big fossil fuel companies for climate-related human rights harms.<\/p>\n
The activists also delivered a letter demanding Shell to\u00a0own up to their responsibility for contributions to the climate crisis\u00a0and show up at the first hearing taking place in March. The hearings are\u00a0part of\u00a0a world-first investigation led by the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines into how climate-related human rights harms are fueled by their business of extracting and marketing fossil fuels.<\/p>\n
\u201cShell and other big fossil fuel companies continue to line their own pockets at the expense of people and the environment!\u00a0People are suffering as a result\u00a0\u2013 from\u00a0more destructive\u00a0typhoons, less fish due to warming oceans, and declining food production due to drought\u00a0or heavier rainfall,\u201d said Desiree Llanos Dee, Climate Justice Campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia \u2013 Philippines.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been\u00a0trying to\u00a0engage\u00a0the\u00a0big polluters\u00a0to participate in the investigation and\u00a0explain\u00a0how they will change their business operations that continue to fuel climate change.\u00a0\u00a0But\u00a0they\u00a0continue to\u00a0ignore\u00a0the plight of people and their families, choosing profit over people and the planet, which is why activists from Greenpeace Philippines\u00a0climbed\u00a0the\u00a0jetty\u00a0at\u00a0Shell\u2019s Batangas refinery, to\u00a0amplify the people\u2019s call.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shell, BHP Billiton, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ENI, ExxonMobil, Glencore, OMV, Repsol, Sasol, Suncor, Total and RWE,\u00a0are among\u00a0the\u00a047 companies\u00a0being investigated by the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines in the world\u2019s first national inquiry into the responsibility of the Carbon Majors for Human Rights Violations or Threats of Violations Resulting from the Impacts of Climate Change. [1] The first of up to five public hearings will take place on 27-28\u00a0March in Manila, [2] followed by two more hearings in the Philippines as well as one in the US and one in Europe during the second half of the year.<\/p>\n
The investigation was triggered by a petition filed at the Commission in 2015 by representatives of communities across the Philippines,\u00a0one of the countries most at risk from the impacts of climate change. The group\u00a0includes\u00a0fisherfolk from Alabat, communities living in the shadow of the Bataan coal power plant, survivors of super-typhoons such as Haiyan (Yolanda),\u00a0and civil society groups, including Greenpeace Southeast Asia-Philippines.\u00a0The Commission will conclude its investigation by the end of this year and issue its recommendations in early 2019, which\u00a0will\u00a0have\u00a0the potential to shift global understanding of corporate responsibility for climate change.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor over\u00a025 years, Shell\u00a0has\u00a0known\u00a0that its operations presented a danger to the climate.\u00a0[3]\u00a0What\u2019s more,\u00a0they had the resources to do something about it, but they didn\u2019t,\u201d said Kees Kodde,\u00a0Climate and Energy campaigner of Greenpeace Netherlands. \u201cShell\u2019s empty rhetoric on climate is wholly contradicted by the core assumption underlying its business plans \u2013 global temperature increases in excess of 3\u00b0C \u2013 and its lobbying against measures to mitigate climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigation in the Philippines is part of the growing global movement of people demanding that\u00a0their\u00a0rights to a stable climate and healthy environment are protected.\u00a0The movement is strong and diverse, ranging from groups of senior women in Switzerland; youth groups in the US, Norway, Portugal and Colombia; impacted fishing, farming and coastal communities in the Philippines; a citizens group in the Netherlands; to individuals from Peru, New Zealand and Pakistan.\u00a0In each of these cases, people are pushing back using the power of the law because governments and fossil fuel companies are failing to protect and respect human rights.\u00a0Fossil fuel companies, in particular,\u00a0are facing an increasing number of climate litigation cases around the world. [4]<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a\u00a0statement\u00a0of justice, where the rights of\u00a0current and\u00a0future generations and of communities around the world made vulnerable by climate change are at the center of our concern, rather than the bottom lines of fossil fuel companies,\u201d Llanos Dee added.<\/p>\n
Greenpeace\u2019s most iconic ship, the Rainbow Warrior, displayed the same banner message (\u201cPEOPLE AND PLANET, NOT PROFIT!\u201d) from its mast today as it sailed from Luzon to Visayas. The ship is currently in the Philippines for the first-ever Climate Justice Ship Tour, showing solidarity with climate-impacted communities and showcasing communities that have embraced solutions to the climate crisis.\u00a0On February 24, the ship will arrive in the island province of Guimaras,\u00a0which is shifting away from\u00a0fossil fuels\u00a0as an energy source. Home to one of the country\u2019s\u00a0largest\u00a0wind farms, the island is part of the country\u2019s \u201cwind corridor,\u201d an ideal area for wind energy\u00a0generation.\u00a0The Rainbow Warrior will then sail to Tacloban in Eastern Visayas, the region hit hardest by super-typhoon Haiyan, arriving on 28 February and staying until 4 March.<\/p>\n
The Climate Justice tour in the Philippines is part of the Rainbow Warrior\u2019s \u201cClimate Change and People Power\u201d tour of Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
For more information visit\u00a0\u201cBalangaw: The Climate Justice Ship Tour\u201d<\/a> <\/em><\/strong>page.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Notes to Editors:<\/strong><\/p>\n [1] Relevant documents and additional information on\u00a0the\u00a0Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines inquiry into the responsibility of the Carbon Majors for Human Rights Violations or Threats of Violations Resulting from the Impacts of Climate Change<\/a><\/p>\n [2] CHR\u2019s Notice of Inquiry Hearing, 19 February 2018<\/a><\/p>\n [3]\u00a0Greenpeace press release 1 March 2017:\u00a0Shell \u201cknew of climate change danger\u201d since 1991 \u2013 Greenpeace response<\/a><\/p>\n [4]\u00a0\u00a0\u201cClimate Liability Suits Gained Traction in 2017, With Bigger Goals Ahead\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Media contacts<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Desiree Llanos Dee, Climate Justice Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia \u2013 Philippines
\ndesiree.llanosdee@greenpeace.org<\/a>