A/HRC/19/34 hurricanes, flooding or mudslides); (b) environmental degradation and slow onset disasters (i.e., desertification, sinking of coastal zones, or increased salinization of groundwater and soil); (c) sinking of small island States; (d) relocation of people from high-risk zones; and (e) violence and armed conflict due to scarcity of resources such as water or inhabitable land (A/HRC/10/13, para. 22). The Special Rapporteur has noted that States’ responsibilities towards internally displaced people include those populations forced to leave their homes owing to natural disasters. 53. With respect to business and human rights, the Council requested the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises to elaborate further on the scope and content of the corporate responsibility to respect all human rights and to provide concrete guidance to business and other stakeholders. The Special Representative noted that companies cited as the top polluters operate, inter alia, in the following sectors: pharmaceutical and chemical; food and beverage; retail and consumer products; heavy manufacturing; infrastructure and utility; extractive; and agricultural. These companies were most frequently alleged to have negative consequences for local communities’ right to health. More specifically, many companies were alleged to have exceeded the allowed ceiling for the carbon-dioxide production rates. Furthermore, the commentary to the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (A/HRC/17/31) drawn up by the Special Representative explicitly mentions environmental laws as laws that directly or indirectly regulate business respect for human rights. 54. Regarding the right to water, the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation (formerly independent expert) has produced a number of studies, accompanied by recommendations for relevant parties, which show the connection between the right to water and environmental protection. The work of the Special Rapporteur has also focused on anticipating and proposing solutions to the negative effects that climate change is likely to generate vis-à-vis the sustainability of the world’s water resources, its purification and the provision of sanitation. For instance, the concept of availability, accessibility, affordability, acceptability and quality of rights provides important guidelines that policymakers can use as they seek to design and implement measures to prevent and mitigate the damaging effects of climate change. 55. In summary, human rights charter-based bodies have considered in various ways the relationship between human rights and the environment, including the various resolutions they have adopted and the mandates established under special procedures. Much effort has gone into identifying linkages between human rights and environment and the outcomes of such efforts provide valuable guidance to States and other actors. However, part of this material is dispersed and there is a need for consolidation. Similarly, a focal point on environment and human rights could provide valuable input to the various procedures addressing the environmental dimensions of their respective mandates. VIII. Environment in the work of the human rights treaty bodies 56. The environment has also featured in the work of the human rights treaty bodies. Both the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Human Rights Committee have found that the rights under their respective jurisdictions are multilayered and interconnected and that their realization depends heavily on healthy environmental conditions. The present chapter briefly examines the general comments and concluding observations emanating both committees that address environmental issues. 57. In general comment No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights interpreted the right to adequate housing to 12