A/HRC/22/43 of indigenous peoples to the natural resources pertaining to their lands include the right to participate in “the use, management and conservation of these resources” (art. 15; also arts. 7 and 14). Similarly, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognizes the right of indigenous peoples to participate in decision-making on matters that would affect their rights and provides that States shall consult with the indigenous peoples concerned to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing measures that may affect them, particularly with respect to projects involving the development, use or exploitation of natural resources (arts. 18, 19, 29 and 32). III. Framing the issues 34. As this brief description of the evolution of environmental rights makes clear, some aspects of the relationship between human rights and the environment are now firmly established. To highlight two: first, as many human rights bodies at the global, regional and national levels have recognized, environmental degradation can and does adversely affect the enjoyment of a broad range of human rights, including rights to life, health, food and water. Second, the exercise of certain rights can and does benefit environmental policymaking, resulting in better environmental protection and, as a consequence, greater protection of the human rights that may be threatened by environmental degradation. These protective rights include rights of free expression and association, rights of information and participation, and rights to remedy. They have been affirmed in a wide range of international instruments, including environmental as well as human rights agreements. 35. The obligations that human rights law imposes regarding environmental protection are less clearly understood. In the words of resolution 19/10, “certain aspects of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment require further study and clarification”. To provide that study and clarification is a principal focus of this mandate. To that end, the Independent Expert will rely not only on research, but also, in accordance with the terms of the mandate itself, on the views of interested stakeholders, including Governments, international bodies, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, the private sector and academic institutions. Until that work is completed, it would be premature to draw general conclusions about the human rights obligations relating to the environment. 36. Nevertheless, it may be helpful to frame some of the issues that are likely to arise in the course of this study, including those concerning: the relationship between human rights obligations and best practices; the connections between substantive and procedural rights and duties; vulnerable groups and non-discrimination; human rights obligations relating to transboundary and global environmental harm; the application of human rights norms to non-State actors; and the relationship between a right to a healthy environment and other human rights. It is important to emphasize that this list is far from exhaustive. Nor is the study of these issues by the mandate certain to address all of these aspects in detail; its content will depend on the results of the consultations and research to come. A. Human rights obligations and best practices 37. As the previous chapter of the present report illustrates, the relationship between human rights and the environment has become the subject of serious, sustained attention in many different forums, including United Nations human rights treaty bodies, special procedures, regional human rights bodies, international conferences on sustainable development, multilateral environmental agreements, domestic legislatures and courts, and academic studies. This diversity of perspectives demonstrates the importance that international organizations, States, civil society organizations and scholars place on these 12