Legarda recalls ICJ advisory opinion: Demands climate justice amidst UNEP report and escalating regional hazards

As global temperatures continue to rise dangerously, the Philippines is renewing its call for international climate justice, urging the global community to recognize the disproportionate suffering of vulnerable nations.

The latest findings from the 2026 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report 1 confirm what Senator Loren Legarda has long warned against: global climate targets are falling drastically short. The world is precariously set to cross the 1.5°C global warming threshold within the next few years as efforts to curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remain insufficient. Projections detailed in the report outline starkly divergent futures: in the best-case scenario, global temperature rise is projected to peak at 1.8°C above pre industrial levels before attempting an “overshoot, peak, and decline” pathway to return below 1.5°C by 2100 through aggressive emissions reductions and carbon removal.

Conversely, worse-case pathways project temperature peaks exceeding 2°C, increasing the risk of crossing catastrophic ecological tipping points and irreversible damage.

As Senator Legarda remarked on these alarming projections, “I hate to be proven right, but as I said, inaction will lead to us failing to meet the 1.5°C target. Ang masakit na katotohanan ay, hindi lang basta numero ang mga ito, kundi mga numero na may epekto sa ating kapaligiran at ating buhay. Nangangahulugan ito ng mas malakas na mga bagyo, mas matinding tag-init, at iba pang mga sakuna dulot ng climate change.”

Ranked once again at the top of the 2025 World Risk Index due to its extreme exposure to overlapping disasters, these unmet global targets are felt by the Philippines not as abstract figures, but as lived realities. Across Southeast Asia, they manifest as compounding climate challenges—from extreme monsoon rains unleashing widespread flooding to the transboundary haze drifting from regional forest fires. These realities, alongside broader global weather volatility, lay bare a profound disparity: vulnerable nations are bearing the heaviest impacts of a crisis they did not create.

This disparity draws the historic July 2025 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) sharply into focus. The ICJ affirmed that states have legally binding obligations under international law to protect the climate system and prevent significant environmental harm, a position welcomed by the UN General Assembly in 2026.

As Senator Legarda noted, a cooperative yet resolute path forward for climate accountability is needed to course correct. “Ang bawat bansa, lalo na ang mga malalaki ang kontribusyon sa GHG emissions, noon man o ngayon, ay dapat makiisa at gampanan ang kanilang obligasyon upang makamit natin ang tunay na climate justice,” she said.

Despite contributing a minuscule 0.51% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the country suffers exponentially from climate-induced devastation. Throughout her legislative career, Senator Legarda has consistently maintained that the Philippines must refuse to resign itself to mere victimhood. Instead, the nation must show the world how the climate crisis should be addressed through proactive, institutionalized resilience.

To turn this vision into reality, Senator Legarda urges decisive action, anchored by institutional frameworks and forward-looking economic reforms:

First, we must institutionalize strategic climate governance and policy alignment under the foundational mandate of the Climate Change Act of 2009 (Republic Act No. 9729). In line with this landmark framework, we must continue to empower the Climate Change Commission (CCC) as they spearhead a cohesive, whole-of-government general framework that seamlessly integrates climate adaptation and mitigation into national, sectoral, and local development plans. This includes driving science-based policy harmonization, guiding agencies in mainstreaming climate resilience into public investments, and operationalizing critical strategic instruments such as the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and the Nationally Determined Contribution Implementation Plan (NDCIP). By aligning our comprehensive national adaptation priorities with concrete mitigation pathways and the CCC empowered, we ensure that our institutional responses effectively direct our national transition toward a climate-adaptive and low-carbon society.

Second, we must mobilize and monitor climate finance by accelerating legislation that strengthens our ability to access and utilize climate funds with full transparency and accountability. This builds upon foundational instruments like the People’s Survival Fund, ensuring resources reach frontline communities effectively.

Third, we must strengthen adaptation and local resilience by fast-tracking the localization of climate action. This involves supporting Local Government Units (LGUs) in updating and implementing their Local Climate Change Action Plans (LCCAPs) using the latest science and risk assessments from the National Adaptation Plan. Furthermore, this requires the strict enforcement of foundational environmental laws, chief among them is the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003) which is vital for reducing flood risks, clearing drainage systems, and protecting ecosystems.

Fourth, we must drive low-carbon development and systemic economic transformation to accelerate economy-wide climate action. This entails fully supporting the CCC as they implement the updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), while closely working with national government agencies in transforming our energy, transport, industry, and agriculture sectors our energy, transport, industry, and agriculture sectors. To lock in these structural gains and address residual loss and damage, Senator Legarda continues to champion forward-looking legislative solutions she has filed—including the Low Carbon Economy Bill, the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS), and the Circular Economy Act—which collectively provide the vital metrics, regulatory incentives, and pathways necessary for a resilient green economy.

Finally, we must demand international accountability and loss and damage support by enjoining the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Climate Change Commission to diplomatically invoke the ICJ Advisory Opinion across global platforms, leveraging our moral standing to demand scaled-up climate finance, technology transfer, and direct loss and damage support from major polluters.

As Senator Legarda emphasized, “Hindi tayo dapat manatiling biktima lamang ng krisis sa klima. Bagama’t tayo ay kabilang sa mga pinaka-naapektuhan, dapat tayong maging ehemplo sa buong mundo kung paano tumayo, lumaban, at magpatupad ng mga tunay na solusyon na nakabatay sa kalikasan at agham.”

As transboundary haze and extreme weather events become part of our regional landscape, Senator Legarda stands firm on the ICJ’s ruling, calling for collaborative accountability while fortifying the nation’s legislative and adaptive defenses. The clock has run out on empty promises. From this moment forward, relentless action for climate justice takes command. (30)