​The Philippines has maintained that the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has the authority to release an advisory opinion on the specific obligations of countries in protecting their marine environment against threats of climate change.

Advisory proceedings, which started on Sep. 11, are being held until Sep. 25 after the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS) requested the tribunal last year to issue an advisory opinion.

The commission wanted to know the members' specific obligations on the following:

• How to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment in relation to the deleterious effects that result or are likely to result from climate change, including through ocean warming and sea level rise, and ocean acidification, which are caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere​; and
• How to protect and preserve the marine environment in relation to climate change impacts,​ including ocean warming and sea level rise, and ocean acidification

In its submission, the Philippine government said the tribunal "has jurisdiction to give an advisory opinion" and that there "exists no compelling reason for the tribunal to decline giving an advisory opinion."

"What exists are compelling reasons for the tribunal to exercise its discretion and issue and advisory opinion," it added.

The Philippine government was represented by Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations Carlos Sorreta, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary Maria Angela Ponce and Assistant Solicitor General Gilbert Medrano, who alternately delivered the country's submission in the proceedings on Tuesday afternoon (Manila time) in Hamburg, Germany.

Citing various international laws and rules that demand countries to protect the marine environment, the Philippines said there already "exist norms in conventional, customary and general principles of international law that support and reinforce these legal obligations."

Among the laws and rules cited were: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement and the Agreement on Biological Diversity Beyond National Jurisdiction.

For the Philippines, the tribunal has jurisdiction to issue its advisory because it "satisfies the prerequisites."

"The Agreement for the Establishment of the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law is an international agreement between and among small island states whose mandate is related to the purposes of UNCLOS, in particular, the protection and preservation of the marine environment," the Philippine said.

"Moreover, Article 2 (2) of the said Agreement empowers COSIS to request ITLOS advisory opinions "on any legal question within the scope" of UNCLOS. Equally important, the questions posed by COSIS are legal in nature as they require the Tribunal to interpret specific provisions of UNCLOS without implicating any dispute between or among States Parties," it added.

​In supporting the tribunal's jurisdiction, the Philippines said the country ranks first among countries most at risk to disasters and extreme natural events, such as tsunamis, floods and drought.

"Such vulnerability is evident in our coastal and marine ecosystems, which are now deteriorating at alarming rates," it said.

The Philippines also expressed alarm on the effects of climate change, which cause the levels of ocean to rise and eventually inundate islands of low-lying coastal states.

"The potential loss of maritime boundaries as a result of sea level rise will inevitably lead to conflicts in fisheries and other marine resources but more importantly could impact the stability of boundaries and trigger conflict," it said.

Therefore, the country said it "stands in solidarity with COSIS, and all the small island states that comprise it, and support their initiative to request the tribunal’s advisory opinion."