Exxon, Shell, Chevron face inquiry hearing for human rights violations in New York
An inquiry hearing on 47 multinational corporations including Exxon, Shell, and Chevron for their possible responsibility in violating the human rights of Filipino citizens, by knowingly creating climate risks through their business, will be held at the New York City Bar Association over two days on September 27 and 28.
This landmark hearing, led by the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, is the fourth in the series that is looking into the role of oil, gas, coal, and cement companies in human rights violations resulting from climate change. The Commission is holding the inquiry during Climate Week NYC to facilitate receiving information about the fossil fuel industry since, to-date, the companies have refused to participate in the process in a meaningful manner.
“It is time for these Big Polluters to see the faces and hear the voices of the people who have been suffering from the consequences of their ‘climate cooking’ business operations,” said Desiree Llanos Dee, Climate Justice Campaigner at Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
“The science is clear, carbon pollution drives climate change. Fossil fuel companies’ business of extracting and marketing their products is making it worse. In the Philippines, we risk losing more and more people due to extreme weather. We stand together with people around the world to bring justice for the communities living on the frontlines of climate crisis.”
The hearing will include testimonies of US climate scientists, lawyers, politicians, and academics who will be presenting their research into how the business of fossil fuel companies exacerbates climate change; as well as Filipino citizens who personally experienced the wrath of super typhoon Haiyan and hurricane Sandy and will share their stories on how climate change has affected their lives and livelihoods.
Patrick Michaels, Director of the Center for the Study of Science at the Cato Institute, is confirmed to speak at the inquiry hearing as one of the resource persons invited by the Commission. The Cato Institute is a US-based think tank known for disputing the science behind global warming and questioning the rationale for taking action.
“The Philippines human rights investigation is an important part of the rising tide in legal systems around the world to hold corporate polluters accountable for the damage caused by climate change,” said Kert Davies, Founder and Director of the Climate Investigations Center and one of the key resource persons of the petitioners.
“Oil, coal, and gas companies can and should be held accountable for stalling action over the past three decades – action that would have helped save lives, property and ecosystems worldwide from further harm,” he added.
The extreme heat wave that gripped parts of the northern hemisphere this summer, as well the two recent and concurrent storms in September – Hurricane Florence in the US and typhoon Mangkhut in the Philippines, Hong Kong and southern China – have highlighted the urgency to take action on climate change. In October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will be convening in South Korea to present the latest science related to climate change.
“It is not too late for companies like Exxon, Shell, and Chevron to change their business practices to allow a world that at least keeps global warming below the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit,” said Llanos Dee. “There are thousands of pages of statements and evidence now on the record proving worsening heat waves, wildfires, floods, droughts, and storms over the years and those who created the climate that we live with today. If these fossil fuel companies do not speak now, they will later.”
Source: Greenpeace International
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