Philippines backs small island-states' bid for protection vs. climate change

The Philippines has expressed support to the call of small island states for protection against the impact of climate change, seeking an advisory opinion from an international tribunal on the obligations of nations to mitigate it.

In an oral statement before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg, Germany, Ambassador and Permanent Representative Carlos Sorreta of the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva said, “staying a step ahead of climate change is the existential challenge for us all.”

He said the Philippines itself has been devastated by strong typhoons and droughts as a result of the changing climate and sea levels.

Sorreta said the Philippines submits that ITLOS “has jurisdiction to give an advisory opinion” in response to the request submitted by the Commission of Small Island States (COSIS).

Composed of small islands from the Pacific and Caribbean, COSIS was formed to seek climate justice from ITLOS amid the threat of rising sea levels they are facing.

Ministers representing the COSIS have argued before the tribunal that countries have an obligation to protect the marine environment under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Sorreta said, “There exist no compelling reason for the tribunal to decline giving an advisory opinion, rather what exist are compelling reasons for the tribunal to exercise its discretion and issue an advisory.”

“The advisory opinion should rule that there are specific identifiable obligations on the part of the state parties to UNCLOS to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment in relation to the deleterious effects of climate change,” the Philippine official said.

He added that existing norms and general principles of international law support and reinforce these obligations.

Department of Foreign Affairs’ Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office Assistant Secretary Maria Angela A. Ponce and Assistant Solicitor General Gilbert U. Medrano of the Office of the Solicitor General also spoke before the tribunal.

ITLOS is an independent judicial body established by the UNCLOS to adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the Convention.—LDF, GMA Integrated News