Thread by @cmuffett1

. @CHRPhilippines' systematic and searing indictment of the #CarbonMajors, and its stark warning to businesses that finance or fuel ongoing climate-driven human rights violations. Thread 4:

.@CHRPhilippines conducted an open, transparent inquiry adhering closely to recognized standards of Due Process. The 47 Respondent #CarbonMajors companies were given every opportunity to engage in that process to share their evidence and their perspectives. They refused.

Published, peer reviewed studies found that roughly 368 GtCO2e--more than 21% of all global emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production--were from products sold by the 47 respondent #CarbonMajors companies. (99)

Evidence unearthed by @ciel_tweets, @insideclimate, @latimes, @KertDavies, @UCSUSA, @BenFranta, @NaomiOreskes, @GeoffreySupran, & others, demonstrates "Carbon Majors had early awareness, notice, or knowledge of their products' adverse impacts on the envt and climate system."(100)

Industry scientists were aware of climate risks posed by CO2 from fossil fuels as early as the 1930s and by no later than 1965. (101)

Despite this knowledge, the "Carbon Majors engaged in willful obfuscation and obstruction to prevent meaningful climate action." (104) Singly and in concert, companies took "measures to convince the public that the use of their products would not lead to significant harms." (105)

.@CHRPhilippines concludes that "Through the API, some of the carbon majors perpetrated massive climate denial campaigns." (105) This included a detailed roadmap to undermine the Kyoto Protocol laid out in API's 1998 Global Climate Science Communications Action Plan.

Based on the evidence presented, @CHRPhilippines "is of the opinion that the strategies described in the communications action plan were actually deployed, politicians were funded, and front groups were created to oppose regulations under the guise of grassroots support." (106)

"These campaigns were not confined to the United States, but were also conducted at the international plane, particularly through the efforts of the Global Climate Coalition (GCC), an organization of...trade associations, such as the API, including many of the carbon majors.(107)

Industry carried out these campaigns even as internal GCC documents admitted that "the scientific basis for the Greenhouse Effect and the potential impact of human emissions of [GHGs] such as Co2 on climate is well-established and cannot be denied." (108)

Drawing on groundbreaking research and analysis by @NaomiOreskes and @GeoffreySupran, the @CHRPhilippines singled out @exxonmobil for carrying out "one of the most documented efforts of obfuscation ...perpetrated by" any #CarbonMajors company. (108)

The Commission highlighted research showing that, over a 37 year period, more than 80% of ExxonMobil's peer-reviewed papers and internal documents acknowledged that climate change is real and human caused, while 80% of its ads in @nytimes expressed doubt.

CRITICAL FINDING: "From the foregoing, the Commission agrees that the Carbon Majors, directly by themselves or indirectly through others, singly and/or through concerned action, engaged in willful obstruction of climate science...(108-09) (cont'd next tweet)

"...which has prejudiced the right of the public to make informed decisions about their products, concealing that their products posed significant harms to the environment and the climate system.All of these have served to obfuscate...and delay meaningful envtl & climate action."

Significantly for future liability, @CHRPhilippines recognizes that "the acts of obfuscation, deception, and misinformation as described above" arguably contravene legal standards of honesty and good faith conduct under the Philippine Civil Code. (109)

Moreover, the Commission observes that industry climate change denial and delay efforts are still ongoing. "[T]hese obstructionist efforts are driven, not by ignorance, but by greed." (110)

"Fossil fuel enterprises continue to fund the electoral campaigns of politicians, with the intention of slowing down the global movement towards clean, renewable energy." (110)

Carbon Majors within Philippines jurisdiction may be compelled to undertake human rights due diligence and, significantly, to provide remediation. (110)

This responsibility extends not only to "the whole group of companies of each Carbon Major" but also to other business enterprises in their respective value chains. These companies "need to know and be able to show" that they respect human rights in the climate context. (112-13)

Where it is found that business enterprise has caused or contributed to adverse human rights impacts, that enterprise must provide for or cooperate in the remediation of those impacts. (113) They can be held accountable in the Philippines if they fail to do so. (114)

.@CHRPhilippines CONCLUDES that, humanity must urgently transition the global economy towards clean energy. "And all acts to obfuscate climate science and delay, derail, or obstruct this transition may be bases for liability. At the very least, they are immoral."(115)

"States may, as part of their duty to human rights, enact and/or enforce laws to overcome these kinds of undertakings and hold parties accountable for them. (115)

The Commission recommends that States put a price on pollution, provide penalties for emissions, and establish "legal frameworks to compensate victims of climate change impacts, through courts or quasi-judicial bodies, with revenues derived directly from polluters." (121)

Next (and penultimate) thread: @CHRPhilippines implications for Carbon Majors and other companies.