A/HRC/28/61
harm, including women, children, minorities and those living in poverty, as well as
indigenous peoples (A/HRC/25/53, paras. 69-78).
94.
For example, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
has emphasized that States should ensure that public participation in environmental
decision-making, including with respect to climate policy, includes the concerns and
participation of women. The Feminist Participatory Action Research programme of the
Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development is a good practice in empowering
women to participate in policy debates over climate change. Together with local partner
organizations, the Asia Pacific Forum helps women in rural, indigenous and urban poor
communities to document their own experiences by setting their own research agenda,
conducting the research themselves and advocating for change as a result. For example,
after conducting its own research, a community in the Philippines passed a resolution to
prevent the use of destructive fishing practices and now requires individuals to adhere to
strict fishing and hunting schedules.
95.
The rights of children are often overlooked in setting environmental policies. The
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is partnering with countries to try to reduce the
effects of climate change and environmental degradation on children’s rights, and to
“identify and enhance opportunities to advance the rights of children which arise from
global and local attention on climate change and environmental degradation.” In Burundi,
for example, UNICEF is implementing Project Lumière, which enables community groups
to purchase bicycle pedal-powered generators and LED lights that can provide light for a
household for up to 10 days. Access to energy protects child health and safety by reducing
harmful emissions from the burning of kerosene and firewood in homes, and by providing
light at night for children to study.
96.
In the United States of America, an Executive Order issued in 1994 by the President
provides a basis for continuing attention to the environmental and human health effects of
actions by the national Government on members of minority and low-income groups, as
well as on indigenous peoples, with the goal of achieving “environmental justice” for all
communities. The Executive Order requires agencies of the Government to address any
potentially adverse human health or environmental effects of their activities on members of
minority or low-income populations. Each major agency has a working group on
environmental justice, which provides guidance for that agency and coordination with other
agencies. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency has developed Environmental
Justice Access Plans that set out measurable commitments. By engaging with
environmental justice advocates and communities through community research and open
dialogue, the Agency strives to ensure public participation in integrating environmental
justice into day-to-day work and decision-making.
97.
A number of international instruments and human rights bodies have detailed the
obligations of States with respect to indigenous peoples, whose rights are particularly
vulnerable to environmental harm. Among other duties, States should recognize the rights
of indigenous peoples with respect to the territory that they have traditionally occupied,
including the natural resources on which they rely, facilitate the participation of indigenous
peoples in decisions that concern them, guarantee that the indigenous community affected
receives a reasonable benefit from any such development, and provide access to remedies,
including compensation, for harm caused by the activities (A/HRC/25/53, para. 78).
98.
Many good practices were presented in relation to indigenous rights. At the regional
level, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has done a great deal to clarify the
obligations of States relating to indigenous and tribal peoples’ rights in the territory that
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