A/HRC/16/62 indicators of success would be developed in due course. Mr. Scott emphasized the importance of addressing the root causes of climate change and the vulnerabilities of certain groups, as climate change would increase humanitarian risk as a result of increased frequency and intensity of natural hazards and increasing human vulnerability. The most vulnerable people already had fewer resources to adapt and were likely to be the last to benefit from any new adaptation measures. Countries with poor governance might therefore face a spiral of increasing vulnerability and instability, exacerbated by insufficient organization or resources to face the negative consequences of climate change. In Mr. Scott’s view, that required: (a) making sure humanitarian concerns and systems are integral to the global climate change strategy; (b) that the humanitarian implications of climate change are understood and quantified to the extent possible; and (c) that support is offered to help develop the capacity of people, communities and authorities to prepare for and adapt to climate-related life-threatening hazards. C. The way forward: rights-based approach to climate change 1. Social dimension and good governance aspects of climate change negotiations 32. Marek Harsdorff, a member of the High-level Committee on Programmes Working Group on Climate Change, presented the work of the task team on social dimensions of climate change in which a number of United Nations agencies and programmes participated.6 He explained that “social dimensions of climate change” referred to a peoplebased approach that embraced socio-economic, cultural and scientific knowledge and practice, aiming overall to ensure that societal needs played a part in developing practices towards mitigation and adaptation, for the short- and long-term benefit of all. The aim was to shift the focus in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations and put people first, by highlighting the socio-economic benefits of addressing climate change and ensuring a focus on the most vulnerable in the framework of sustainable development. In practical terms, Mr. Harsdorff explained that the task team worked on health, employment, incomes and livelihood, gender, education, housing, food and poverty. It addressed the needs of particular vulnerable groups (children, women, indigenous peoples and the poor), and the opportunities in addressing climate change. The task team aimed to understand and address the interlinkages between climate change and development in a coherent and coordinated manner, to achieve climate-resilient sustainable development. 33. Richard Newfarmer, the World Bank Special Representative to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, presented the World Bank’s view of the social dimensions of climate change as an issue of social justice. He observed that the causes and consequences of climate change were deeply intertwined with global patterns of inequality, and that climate change acted as a multiplier of existing vulnerabilities which threatened to reverse hard-earned development gains. A dual-track approach was needed: both aggressive mitigation through curbing of greenhouse gas emissions, and pro-poor adaptation. There was an inverse relation between those countries emitting and those countries adversely affected, although newly industrializing countries, especially those with larger economies, were likely to constitute the great bulk of emissions moving forward. In his view, there was a joint responsibility throughout the world to deal with that issue. He also noted the chain of causation running from expected impacts of climate change through to possible human 6 12 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Labour Organization, OHCHR, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UNDP, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), World Bank, WFP and the World Health Organization.