A/HRC/37/30 on all aspects of climate change”. In the context of disaster risk reduction, the Sendai Framework encourages States to assign, as appropriate, clear roles and tasks to community representatives within disaster risk management institutions and processes and decisionmaking through relevant legal frameworks, and undertake comprehensive public and community consultations during the development of such laws and regulations to support their implementation (para. 27 (f)). 43. Active, free and meaningful participation of rights holders, especially those who are marginalized and discriminated against, can foster critical consciousness and active civic engagement for more informed decision-making. Experience shows that people, when empowered to take part in decisions that affect them, are more likely to take their lives into their own hands and are thus more resilient to shocks. B. Addressing the root causes of vulnerabilities 44. Human rights can help to gain a deeper understanding of the root causes of vulnerabilities and the requirements of resilience-building. The promise of the 2030 Agenda to leave no one behind not only entails reaching the poorest and the most vulnerable, but also seeks to address discrimination and growing inequality within and between countries and their root causes. Human rights standards, including the principles of participation, accountability, equality and non-discrimination, can help to guide such efforts. 45. Climate hazards and inequalities are intimately linked. 14 Climate hazards aggravate the pre-existing inequalities that are at the root of poverty, marginalization and exclusion. Because of structural inequalities, groups and communities that are marginalized and discriminated against are more likely to be exposed to climate hazards and less likely to have adequate resources and capacity for coping and recovery. 46. Exposure to climate and environmental hazards is often determined by where people live and work, which in turn is often determined by the socioeconomic status of those people and groups. Low-income groups and those discriminated against on the basis of race, ethnicity and other grounds, tend to live in marginal areas with poor infrastructure, often in precarious environments with higher levels of exposure to climate hazards and other extremities. Even when the level of exposure is the same, those groups are more susceptible to damage because they lack the assets and resources to cope, adapt and recover, as well as suffering from poor health, and a lack of education and knowledge. 47. Ensuring the human rights principle of equality and non-discrimination is therefore critical to reducing vulnerability and building resilience, and is a cornerstone of a human rights-based approach. The principles of equality and non-discrimination are enshrined in all core human rights treaties adopted since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in which article 2 states that everyone is entitled to all rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration, without distinctions of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. 15 48. The United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination recently adopted a system-wide framework to put the imperatives of addressing inequality and discrimination at the heart of the support of the system for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 16 In the framework, the need to ensure progress for 14 15 16 10 See, for example, World Economic and Social Survey 2016. Climate Change Resilience: an Opportunity for Reducing Inequalities (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.16.II.C.1), ch. II. See also, for example, arts. 2 (2) and 3 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; arts. 2 (1) and 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; arts. 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; arts. 1 and 2 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; art. 2 (1) and (2) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and art. 1 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. See United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, “Leaving no one behind: equality and non-discrimination at the heart of sustainable development” (2017).