A/HRC/RES/31/8 Welcoming the adoption of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in which parties acknowledge in the preamble that parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity,, Recognizing that sustainable development and the protection of the environment contribute to human well-being and to the enjoyment of human rights, Recognizing also, conversely, that climate change, the unsustainable management and use of natural resources and the unsound management of chemicals and waste may interfere with the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and that environmental damage can have negative implications, both direct and indirect, for the effective enjoyment of all human rights, Recognizing further that, while the human rights implications of environmental damage are felt by individuals and communities around the world, the consequences are felt most acutely by those segments of the population which are already in vulnerable situations, 1. Welcomes the work undertaken to date by the Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and takes note of his most recent reports on possible methods of implementing human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment1 and on human rights obligations relating to climate change;2 2. Also welcomes the work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the issue of human rights and the environment; 3. Further welcomes the work undertaken by the United Nations Environment Programme in support of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and in helping to clarify the relationship between human rights and the environment; 4. Calls upon States: (a) To respect, protect and fulfil human rights, including in actions relating to environmental challenges; (b) To adopt and implement laws ensuring, among other things, the rights to information, participation and access to justice in the field of the environment; (c) To facilitate public awareness and participation in environmental decision-making, including of civil society, women, youth and indigenous peoples, by protecting all human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and to freedom of peaceful assembly and association; (d) To implement fully their obligations to respect and ensure human rights without distinction of any kind, including in the application of environmental laws and policies; (e) To promote a safe and enabling environment in which individuals, groups and organs of society, including those working on human rights and environmental issues, can operate free from threats, hindrance and insecurity; 1 2 2 A/HRC/31/53. A/HRC/31/52.