LANDMARK INQUIRY TACKLES CLIMATE CHANGE THREATS As the impacts of climate change hit home, communities across the Philippines are in crisis. In some parts of the country, people have been forced to relocate because of rising sea levels, while others struggle to make ends meet with dwindling fishing stocks and falling agricultural yields. Many live in fear of deadly super-charged storms, following Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 which devastated parts of the Philippines and killed more than 6,000 people. A ground-breaking inquiry by the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines is investigating the links between carbon emissions, climate change and human rights. Those who brought the case argue that climate change threatens a range of fundamental human rights, most critically the rights to life, to health, to food, to water, to sanitation, to adequate housing, and to self-determination. The activities of 47 ‘carbon majors’ – investor-owned oil, natural gas and coal producers and cement manufacturers – are the focus of the Commission’s inquiry. The APF, in partnership with GANHRI, submitted an amicus brief to the inquiry and noted that the adverse connection between climate change and human rights “is supported in numerous Human Rights Council resolutions and can therefore be regarded as uncontroversial”. We also concluded that the Commission has the authority to investigate the petition, on the basis of both domestic and international law. ANNUAL REPORT 2016–17 11