A/HRC/25/53 2. Children 73. The Convention on the Rights of the Child provides that in all actions concerning children, including those taken by administrative authorities and legislative bodies, “the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration” (art. 3, para. 1). In its general comment No. 14 (2013), the Committee on the Rights of the Child has made it clear that this provision applies to actions, such as environmental regulation, that affect children as well as other population groups, and it has stated that where decisions “will have a major impact” on children, “a greater level of protection and detailed procedures to consider their best interests is appropriate” (paras. 19, 20). 74. More specifically, article 24.2(c) of the Convention provides that States Parties shall pursue full implementation of the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and, in particular, shall take appropriate measures “to combat disease and malnutrition… through the provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking water, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution.” In its general comment No. 15 (2013), the Committee stated that under article 24.2(c), “States should take measures to address the dangers and risks that local environmental pollution poses to children’s health,” should “regulate and monitor the environmental impact of business activities that may compromise children’s right to health, food security and access to safe drinking water and to sanitation,” and should “put children’s health concerns at the centre of their climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies” (paras. 49, 50). The Committee has emphasized elsewhere as well the importance of regulation of business in order to protect children’s rights, including from the effects of environmental harm (e.g. general comment No. 16 (2013), para. 31). 75. In its general comment No. 9 (2006) on the rights of children with disabilities, the Committee stated that “countries should establish and implement policies to prevent dumping of hazardous materials and other means of polluting the environment. Furthermore, strict guidelines and safeguards should also be established to prevent radiation accidents” (para. 54). The Committee has also urged States to collect and submit information on the possible effects of environmental pollution on children’s health, and to address particular environmental problems, in its concluding observations on country reports.71 Finally, the Convention states that the States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed, inter alia, to “the development of respect for the natural environment” (art. 29, para. 1(e)). 3. Indigenous peoples 76. Because of their close relationship with the environment, indigenous peoples are particularly vulnerable to impairment of their rights through environmental harm. As the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples has stated, “the implementation of natural resource extraction and other development projects on or near indigenous territories has become one of the foremost concerns of indigenous peoples worldwide, and possibly also the most pervasive source of the challenges to the full exercise of their rights” (A/HRC/18/35, para. 57). 77. International Labour Organization convention 169 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples are designed to protect the rights of indigenous peoples, but human rights bodies have also interpreted other human rights agreements to protect those rights. The interpretations have reached generally congruent 71 20 The Committee has also based such recommendations on other rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including the rights to an adequate standard of living (art. 27) and to rest, leisure and play (art. 31). See CRC report, sect. III.