A/HRC/40/26 26. The Undersecretary concluded her statement by stressing that the existence of representative data, appropriately disaggregated and used with human rights and international standards as a reference, made it possible to design measures suited to national realities and, ultimately, to better protect internally displaced persons and offer them durable solutions. Lastly, she noted that Honduras was of the view that, in order to make progress with respect to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to keep the promise to leave no one behind, it was essential for States to articulate responses that encompassed the human rights, humanitarian, development and peacebuilding dimensions of internal displacement. 27. In her remarks on internal displacement as a result of disasters and climate change, the last panellist, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative of Fiji, stressed that drought, floods, intense hurricanes, cyclones and rising sea levels could have a devastating effect on the ability of the land to sustain human population. However, the lack of clarity in policies both nationally and internationally linking those issues had led to insufficient focus on the way national governments and communities should approach displacement and, as a result, to ad hoc responses not necessarily based on human rights. In addition, there had not been enough discussion of disasters, mobility and sustainable development. 28. In 2017, over 18.8 million new internal displacements caused by sudden-onset climate-related hazards, such as typhoons and floods, had been recorded. That figure had represented 61 per cent of all new internal displacements. However, there was no means of tracking how many people might have moved partially in response to slow-onset hazards, such as drought or desertification, or to development plans and projects. In addition, directly attributing human mobility to climate change was extremely difficult, as causes of displacement were multiple. Analysis was hampered by that complexity and by the interrelatedness of drivers of migration, while significant data challenges made estimation of migration and displacement under a changing climate problematic. She stressed that the links between climate change and human mobility should be integrated in sustainable development processes. 29. Responses to displacement should be inclusive, participatory and transformative, and, rather than entrench existing inequalities, they must be empowering, promoting equality and human dignity. It was for that reason that the Guiding Principles continued to be of such relevance and had the capacity not only to assist States to plan relocation and adopt relocation principles but also to introduce the concept of substantive democracy for communities. A human rights approach to displacement could transform societies, enabling them to empower themselves more fully. Similarly, human mobility, both autonomous and planned, presented opportunities that could facilitate adaptation to climate change and serve as an adaptation measure itself. Risk-informed development strategies and policies were paramount and had the potential to reduce vulnerability and enhance the ability of an individual, community or country to cope with, respond to and acquire the necessary skills to deal with shocks and stressors, including those caused by climate change. Nationally determined contributions and national adaptation and disaster management processes and plans could play an important role. Mobility, in her view, should be seen as evidence not of a failure to adapt to climate change but of a strategy to adapt to it. 30. If carefully organized and provided with the necessary resources, displacement management processes and relocation plans had the potential to reduce vulnerability and ensure that individuals, communities and countries were able to cope with and respond to climate-related hazards and support and empower migrant and displaced workers and communities. They could also transform and democratize social mechanisms. They could lead to the elimination of discriminatory practices and modify cultural practices that acted as barriers to effective participation and consultation. 31. The Ambassador stressed the important role of the Platform on Disaster Displacement and international agencies such as the International Organization for Migration in supporting national Governments to mainstream approaches to human mobility into broader policies. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development included Sustainable Development Goals, all of which had an impact on internally displaced persons, that targeted both climate change and migration. 7