Security experts are urging the Philippines to use China’s environmental damage in the West Philippine Sea as a basis for international legal action, arguing that Beijing’s environmental claims conflict with the destruction attributed to its maritime activities.

Speaking at an online forum organized by the National Youth Movement for the West Philippine Sea, retired US Navy Capt. Carl Schuster backed calls for Manila to pursue legal action over the ecological damage caused by China’s reclamation and construction activities in disputed waters.

Schuster said China’s activities had destroyed an estimated 107 square kilometers of coral reef marine environment and contributed to pollution affecting about 3.4 million hectares of the South China Sea.

He also pointed to the decline in fish and crab populations, which he said have been cut in half over the past 15 years.

The remarks came as China has promoted environmental protection measures in the South China Sea, including its declaration of Scarborough Shoal, or Bajo de Masinloc, as a marine protected area.

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Dr. Celia Lamkin of NYMWPS questioned the credibility of China’s environmental claims given the reported ecological damage from its activities in the region.

“What is the use of them saying they have a nature reserve in Scarborough Shoal when they are the ones actively damaging the marine environment?” Lamkin said.

She added that the environmental impact extends beyond the Philippines.

“It is not only the Philippines being affected… it is actually the whole world,” she said.

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The experts’ call echoes a proposal earlier made by retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who has advocated bringing China before an arbitral tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to seek accountability for environmental destruction in the West Philippine Sea.

Speaking at the National West Philippine Sea Summit last July, Carpio said the Philippines should pursue new arbitration cases against China, describing environmental damage as one of the “low-hanging fruit” that Manila could pursue under international law.

“I have long advocated that the Philippines should bring China to an UNCLOS tribunal for damage to the marine ecosystem in the West Philippine Sea,” Carpio said.

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The 2016 arbitral award invalidated China’s sweeping claims under its nine-dash line and affirmed the Philippines’ maritime entitlements under UNCLOS.

Carpio has also urged Manila to pursue arbitration over the Philippines’ extended continental shelf claim and to continue formally protesting Chinese maritime assertions to protect the country’s legal rights.

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