By Perfecto T. Raymundo, Jr.
QUEZON CITY — Survivors of Super Typhoon Odette will be filing a case in the United Kingdom against British giant oil and gas company Shell for its alleged role in driving the climate crisis.
In a press conference, organized by Greenpeace Philippines (Greenpeace) and Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRNRC), the Filipino survivors announced that they will be filing the first climate-related personal and property damage case of its scale to be brought against Shell.
Greenpeace and LRNRC are participating in a campaign to mobilize support for Filipino communities calling for climate accountability.
The claimants, most of which are from Cebu and Bohol provinces, will be applying Philippine law in the trial proceedings in the British courts.
The case will be filed on behalf of 67 Filipinos who lost family members, were seriously injured, or lost their homes in the devastating storm which struck the Philippines on Dec. 16, 2021.
Jefferson Chua, Greenpeace climate campaigner, said that they would like to put the case in a proper perspective in how climate justice should be attained.
Chua said that this is a landmark case from the Global South for environmental damages that are unquantifiable.
Greg Lascelles, partner at Hausfeld Legal Team, said “The case seeks to hold Shell accountable to our Filipino clients. By providing in court that Shell was at fault for this climate change-driven extreme weather event and the suffering it caused, the case highlights the far-reaching and direct impacts on vulnerable communities worldwide of oil and gas company activities.”
Atty. Ryan Roset, senior legal fellow of LRNRC, said “Countries that contribute the least to climate change suffer the most; the impacts are further amplified insofar as the most vulnerable communities are concerned.”
“The culpability of those who have contributed, and earned the most from this planetary catastrophe is long overdue,” Atty. Roset added.
Estela Vasquez, Philippine Movement for Climate Justice Visayas coordinator, said “Our demand for reparations from rich, polluting nations and corporations like Shell is just a fraction of what they owe for for their climate change atrocities.”
“Their greed has intensified the climate crisis of and the destroyed lives, livelihoods, and futures futures,” Vasquez added.
“The Commission on Human Rights fully supports the survivors of Super Typhoon Odette in seeking legal redress to attain effective remedies in the name of environmental justice,” the CHR said in a statement.
Bishop Gerry Alminaza, incoming President of Caritas Philippines, in a video message, said that he fully supports the case against Shell for the deaths and destruction of the environment, which should be turned into hope and investment for the future.
The case draws on new climate attribution research which found that human-caused climate change more than doubled the likelihood of an extreme weather event like Super Typhoon Odette, which killed 405 people, injured more than 1,400 and cost the Philippines at least P47.8 billion in damages. ###
