Youths from Dinagat Island hold placards demanding climate justice at Almont City Hotel in Butuan City on Wednesday, 22 May 2024. MindaNews photo by IVY MARIE MANGADLAO
BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews / 23 May) – A victim of Super Typhoon Odette in December 2021 (international name: Rai) from Dinagat Islands has joined seven other plaintiffs from different countries and three non-government organizations (NGO) in a criminal case filed against the French oil giant TotalEnergies on Tuesday, May 21.
Frank Nicol Marba, 29, from Barangay Melgar in Basilisa town, is the lone Filipino plaintiff in this transnational climate litigation.
At a press conference held here on Wednesday, Marba said the climate litigation “is a fighting chance to bring their stories to the international audience.”
Marba’s house was damaged, and his grandmother fell ill following the onslaught of Odette.
Dinagat Islands was among the provinces worst-hit by Odette, where it affected at least 34,000 families and left 14,500 houses totally destroyed and another 15,700 partially damaged, the United Nations Development Program said.
Demanding for justice, Marba stressed that “TotalEnergies should compensate not only for the destruction of their properties but also for the loss of their livelihood and the trauma that they are still dealing with up to now.”
“Our livelihoods never really fully recovered and whenever there’s news of a typhoon coming our way, my grandmother still shakes in fear, as she is being reminded of our ordeal from Typhoon Odette,” Marba said.
Frank Nikol Marba (center), along with Lea Guerrero, Greenpeace Philippines country director (left), and Virginia Benosa-Llorin, Greenpeace Philippines campaigner, answer questions during a press conference held at Almont City Hotel in Butuan City on Wednesday, 22 May 2024. MIndaNews photo by IVY MARIE MANGADLAO
He joined plaintiffs from Australia, Zimbabwe, France, Belgium, Greece, and Pakistan, all victims of climate-related disasters such as heatwaves, floods, cyclones, storms, and forest fires.
Three NGOs, BLOOM and Santé Planétaire from France, and Nuestro Futuro from Mexico, are also part of the case.
The criminal case was filed at the Paris Criminal Court in France, with Maître François Lafforgue, from the law firm Teissonniere Topaloff Lafforgue Andreu et Associés, serving as the lawyer filing the complaint.
In a press release, the NGOs and eight plaintiffs hope to establish the criminal liability of TotalEnergies’ directors and shareholders “for their contribution to climate change and to hold them accountable for past decisions that caused significant environmental damage and human casualties.”
“We also hope to be able to set a legal precedent for future climate litigation and decision-making by oil and gas majors whereby opening new fossil fuel projects would be considered criminal. This would be consistent with scientific conclusions which have determined that new fossil fuel projects are not compatible with limiting global warming to viable thresholds,” it stated.
TotalEnergies is one of the leading global oil and gas companies by revenues generated along with ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, and BP, based on 2023 revenue data from Statista.
In the Philippines, TotalEnergies operates approximately 490 service stations, retailing fuel and products, and offering related services, as stated on their official website.
An investigative report by Le Monde, published in November 2023, revealed that TotalEnergies is linked to at least 23 “carbon bombs,” or vast fossil fuel extraction sites that, according to scientists, have significant potential for greenhouse gas emissions over their lifecycle.
“The 23 oil and gas bombs operated or owned by TotalEnergies could release more than 60 billion tons of CO2 equivalent into the atmosphere if fully exploited. This represents 12% of humanity’s total remaining carbon budget to keep global warming below the 1.5°C threshold, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,” the Le Monde report stated.
On TotalEnergies website, the firm stated that they aim to reduce their scope 1+2 (direct and indirect) net emissions by 40% by 2030.
Claire Nouvian, founder and director of the Paris-based environmental organization BLOOM, said in a press release that TotalEnergies’ board of directors and main shareholders have proven that those who have a financial interest in the destruction of the world are not apt to take responsible decisions.
“Letting them do so would equate to giving them a right to “globocide.” It would be irresponsible of us. We are determined to do everything it takes to stop climate criminals,” Nouvian stated.
The litigation is supported by 29 organizations worldwide, but they are not part of the legal case, including Greenpeace Philippines.
Greenpeace Philippines stated that this move “is unprecedented in the history of climate litigation, as it opened the way to holding fossil fuel producers and shareholders accountable for the chaos caused by climate change.”
“Oil and gas companies like TotalEnergies must pay for losses and damages caused by climate impacts. We should not make communities bear the cost of these disasters,” said Greenpeace campaigner Virginia Benosa-Llorin.
Greenpeace Philippines has also called on the Philippine government to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for the climate crisis and demand compensation for losses and damages. (Ivy Marie Mangadlao / MindaNews)