A/HRC/31/52 measures to enhance such measures. UNEP describes the efforts by many States to assess the impacts of climate change and to make this information publicly available.30 States that have not yet adopted such policies should do so, with international assistance if necessary. 54. In particular, the Special Rapporteur agrees with the suggestion of UNEP that wherever possible States should assess the climate effects of major activities within their jurisdiction, “such as programmatic decisions about fossil fuel development, large fossil fuel-fired power plants, and fuel economy standards”. 31 Such assessments should include the transboundary effects of the activities. But even with respect to the effects of climate change that are felt within a State, assessments are an important method of clarifying impacts, especially on vulnerable communities, and thereby providing a basis for adaptation planning, as article 7 (9) of the Paris Agreement recognizes. 55. Assessments and public information are also important with respect to actions designed to alleviate the effects of climate change. As noted above, the obligations of States to respect and protect human rights apply with no less force when they are taking mitigation or adaptation measures. Article 4 (1) (f) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change encourages its parties to employ impact assessments of such measures with a view to minimizing adverse effects on the economy, on public health and on the quality of the environment. 2. Facilitating public participation 56. The obligation to facilitate public participation in environmental decision-making has strong roots in human rights law. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights recognize the baseline rights of everyone to take part in the government of their country and in the conduct of public affairs. Again, human rights bodies have built on this baseline in the environmental context, clarifying the duty to facilitate public participation in environmental decision-making in order to safeguard a wide spectrum of rights from environmental harm. 57. There can be no doubt that this duty encompasses decision-making in relation to climate policy. States have long emphasized the importance of public participation in addressing climate change. Article 6 (a) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change requires its parties to promote and facilitate public participation, and the General Assembly has recognized “the need to engage a broad range of stakeholders at the global, regional, national and local levels, including national, subnational and local governments, private businesses and civil society, and including youth and persons with disabilities, and that gender equality and the effective participation of women and indigenous peoples are important for effective action on all aspects of climate change”.32 Similarly, article 12 of the Paris Agreement requires its parties to cooperate in taking appropriate measures to enhance public participation. 58. Many States have adopted laws that provide for public participation in developing environmental policy (see A/HRC/28/61, paras. 42-49). Some, such as Guatemala and Jordan, provide for public participation in the formulation of climate policy in particular. All States should ensure that their laws provide for effective public participation in climate and other environmental decision-making, including by marginalized and vulnerable groups, and that they fully implement their laws in this respect. Such participation not only helps to protect against abuses of other human rights; it also promotes development policies that are more sustainable and robust. 30 31 32 14 UNEP report, p. 34. Ibid., p. 16. General Assembly resolution 67/210, para. 12.