A/HRC/39/18 Rights, States’ obligations under the International Covenant on Economic and Social Rights apply both with respect to situations on the State’s national territory, and outside the national territory in situations over which States parties may exercise control including in the context of business activities.14 At the global level, the right to development implies three levels of obligations: duties to seek to conclude new international agreements; duties to cooperate in existing international forums; and duties to comply with obligations already stipulated.15 40. The Declaration on the Right to Development codifies, in a human rights instrument, principles that are essential for reducing inequalities among nations and ultimately global inequality. These principles include the right of peoples to self-determination and the duty to cooperate to ensure development and to eliminate obstacles to development. The following section looks at these principles in the light of different international legal instruments and of the Sustainable Development Goals. B. Self-determination 41. The Declaration on the Right to Development affirms that this right “implies the full realization of the right of peoples to self-determination, which includes, subject to the relevant provisions of both International Covenants on Human Rights, the exercise of their inalienable right to full sovereignty over all their natural wealth and resources” (art. 1 (2)). The principle of self-determination is also codified in the Charter of the United Nations (Art. 1 (2)) and the International Covenants on Human Rights. 16 It is considered a jus cogens norm of international law. 17 The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development reaffirms that “every State has, and shall freely exercise, full permanent sovereignty over all its wealth, natural resources and economic activity” (para. 18).18 42. The principle of self-determination implies norms that may contribute to addressing inequality between States. Many developing and least developed countries are rich in natural resources. Preserving the policy space of developing countries in the exercise of their sovereignty over their natural resources is crucial to enable them to use those resources to promote the right to development of their own peoples and inhabitants. 19 According to the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, sovereignty over natural resources implies that if “these natural resources were ‘sold’ or ‘assigned’ pursuant to colonial, neocolonial or ‘unequal treaties’ or contracts, these agreements must be revised to vindicate the sovereignty of peoples over their own resources” (A/HRC/37/63, para. 14 (g)). Through the 2030 Agenda, States agreed to respect the national policy space for sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, in particular for developing countries (in its para. 21). 43. The 2030 Agenda also acknowledged the importance of international financial institutions’ respect for the policy space of developing countries (para. 44). This implies that any structural adjustment, austerity measures or related policies should be designed in a way to respect the policy space for complying with economic, social and cultural rights, as 14 15 16 17 18 19 8 General comment No. 24 (2017) on State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities, paras. 10, 25–37. See “The international dimensions of the right to development: a fresh start towards improving accountability”, paras. 28–62. “The international dimensions of the right to development: a fresh start towards improving accountability”, para. 33. See also Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, principle (e), and General Assembly resolution 1803 (XVII) of 14 December 1962 entitled, “Permanent sovereignty over natural resources”. See, e.g., A/HRC/37/63, para. 14 (b), and International Law Commission, conclusions of the work of the Study Group on the fragmentation of international law, contained in A/61/10, para. 251, conclusion 33. The Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda can be found in General Assembly resolution 70/1. See, e.g., A/HRC/4/30/Add.2, para. 6, and A/HRC/4/25/Add.3, para. 7 (a) (iii).