A/HRC/42/26 I. Introduction 1. Pursuant to its resolution 38/4, the Human Rights Council held a panel discussion on women’s rights and climate change: climate action, best practices and lessons learned on 28 June 2019.1 2. The panel discussion was chaired by the President of the Human Rights Council. It opened with a statement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which was followed by a video statement from the President of the Marshall Islands. 3. The panel provided an opportunity for States, international organizations and other relevant stakeholders to discuss the adverse impacts of climate change on the effective enjoyment of the rights of women and girls and the promotion and protection of their rights through gender-responsive climate action. 4. The panellists included the former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson; the Permanent Representative of Fiji to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Nazhat Shameem Khan; Senior Specialist on Equality and Non-Discrimination at the International Labour Organization (ILO), Martin Oelz; and member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Nahla Haidar. II. Opening session 5. Opening the discussion, the High Commissioner for Human Rights stressed that the climate crisis was stripping people of their rights and identity and in some cases their homes, countries and lives. Climate change had specific adverse impacts on women and girls. During extreme weather events, women were more likely to die than men, owing to differences in socioeconomic status and access to information. Pregnant and breastfeeding women were subject to food insecurity. Saltier drinking water, because of rising sea-levels, might cause premature births and maternal and new-born deaths. The economic stress induced by disasters and climate change could lead to child, early and forced marriages as a coping strategy. Intensified threats to land, water, species and livelihoods profoundly affected women, particularly those who worked the land or relied on ecosystems for their families’ subsistence. 6. The High Commissioner noted that in the report submitted pursuant to Council Resolution 38/4, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had found that entrenched discrimination intensified the impacts of climate change on women, particularly when they were also subject to discrimination as members of marginalized communities (see A/HRC/41/26). Women’s rights to health, food and livelihoods were among the rights affected. In 2018, more than 17 million people were internally displaced in 144 countries as a result of natural disasters and climate change, which was 60 per cent more than the number of people forced to leave their homes by conflict. Among persons displaced by climate change, women and girls were and would be especially exposed to threats of gender-based violence, including human trafficking. 7. The High Commissioner noted that in its general recommendation No. 37 (2018) on the gender-related dimensions of disaster risk reduction in the context of climate change, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had pointed out that urgent action was needed to mitigate and adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change on women and girls. At the same time, women also had much to contribute to climate action. Women from marginalized communities in precarious at-risk areas had intimate knowledge of the land and nature-based ecological strategies that could help minimize climate harm, 1 2 The full video of the panel discussion is available from: http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/humanrights-council/regular-sessions/41st-session/watch/panel-discussion-on-women’s-rights-and-climatechange-15th-meeting-41st-regular-session-human-rights-council-/6054231221001.