A/HRC/46/34/Add.1 was pleased to hear reports of initiatives taken to improve Internet access since her visit and hopes that they will continue. E. Climate change, the environment and cultural rights 56. One of the objectives of the Special Rapporteur’s mission was to investigate the impact that climate change has and may have on culture and cultural rights in Tuvalu. Considering the particular context of the country, climate change was the first strategic area in the Te Kakeega III and is a cross-cutting responsibility of all public authorities. In 2020, the nexus of climate change and culture around the world was the topic of the Special Rapporteur’s report to the General Assembly. She thanks the governmental and nongovernmental experts and advocates in Tuvalu for sharing information and perspectives with her during the mission, and in the preparation of the thematic report, from which her work greatly benefitted.17 57. As former High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has said: “Climate change is one of the most serious challenges [humanity] has ever faced.”18 In addition to its other damaging effects, the impact of climate change on cultural rights and cultural heritage is an urgent human rights question and must be understood and responded to as such. All relevant actors, at the international and national levels, must act with determination to respond to this threat with a human rights approach that empowers individuals and groups “as active agents of change and not as passive victims”.19 58. In her thematic report on climate change, the Special Rapporteur noted that the conditions allowing all people to access, participate in and contribute to cultural life without discrimination and through a process of continuous development are greatly jeopardized by the climate emergency. The universality of human rights, including cultural rights, has no meaning today without a liveable environment in which they can be enjoyed. 20 Climate change is having and will continue to have a grave impact on the cultures and cultural heritages of all humankind and hence on the related human rights of billions of people. While most human rights are affected by climate change, cultural rights are severely affected, in that they risk being simply wiped out in many cases. This reality has not been adequately acknowledged in current climate change initiatives. It must be recognized as a matter of international legal obligation and addressed as a priority.21 59. The Special Rapporteur commends Tuvalu for its strong international position for effective action on climate change and hopes that its outspoken advocacy will continue, in particular by supporting a human rights approach that includes cultural rights at the national and international levels. The voices of Tuvaluans and of inhabitants of other small island developing States must be heard more widely at the international level. She understands the strong desire of the Government and of many Tuvaluans to remain in their homeland. 60. The climate emergency poses existential threats, both physical and cultural, to island nations like Tuvalu. During her visit, the expert was taken to a location in Funafuti where waves are, for the first time, reported to be rising onto the narrow land at high tide. She will never forget the words of a woman who told her on that spot: “Tuvalu is drowning. Its shorelines are receding. The world needs to help Tuvalu.” In many ways, finding solutions to help Tuvalu to face this challenge also helps the whole world to do so. 61. Through collaborative projects with United Nations agencies and regional organizations and with the advocacy and awareness-raising work of civil society organizations, the country has invested in adaptation measures, changing for example the fishing methods to more sustainable ones that better respect life cycles and changing coastal areas. 17 18 19 20 21 See A/75/298; and the annex containing the legal framework and examples. Available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/CulturalRights/Pages/AnnualReports.aspx. See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/OHCHRanalyticalstudyClimateChange.aspx. A/HRC/10/61, para. 90. A/73/227, para. 38. A/75/298, para. 2. 13