A/HRC/36/46 significant adverse impact in a transboundary context and, in particular, on a shared resource.23 49. The participation of indigenous peoples in decision-making and the availability of information and engagement mechanisms for them to do so are crucial elements in efforts to tackle climate change in a manner that is consistent with human rights obligations. 50. Climate change projects may create barriers to indigenous landownership. This is underlined by concerns that climate finance has been provided for mitigation measures such as biofuel production and renewable energy projects, including hydroelectric dams, on indigenous territories without undertaking consultations to ensure the free, prior and informed consent of the affected peoples. Such projects risk compounding long-standing and systemic violations of the rights of indigenous peoples. Displacements caused by the loss of land and territory further undermine the cultural integrity and protection of indigenous peoples. C. Rights to health, water and food and an adequate standard of living 51. Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights upholds the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger. While the Covenant does not explicitly refer to the right to water, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has underlined that the right to water is part of the right to an adequate standard of living and has stressed that the right to water is inextricably linked to the rights to health, adequate housing and food. It has also affirmed that States should adopt comprehensive programmes to ensure sufficient water for future generations by assessing the impacts of actions that may impinge upon water availability and natural ecosystems, such as climate change.24 States are obliged to progressively realize the rights contained in the Covenant. 52. Article 2 of both the United Nations Framework Convention and the Paris Agreement affirms the objective to ensure that food production is not threatened by climate change. The right to health is explicitly referred to in the preamble to the Agreement. In relation to indigenous peoples and climate change, human rights treaty bodies have expressed concern over how climate change mitigation measures such as biofuel projects affect indigenous peoples, and in particular the threats monoculture poses to food security. 25 53. In the Fifth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that indigenous peoples, who depend heavily on local resources and live in parts of the world where the climate is changing quickly, are generally at greater risk of economic losses and poor health. 26 The Panel furthermore notes that indigenous knowledge is important for food security in many parts of the world and that climate change policies may risk reducing the contribution that indigenous knowledge can make to effective climate adaptation.27 D. Culture and traditional knowledge 54. The Declaration establishes, in article 31, that “indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, [and] knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora”. 23 24 25 26 27 10 Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay (Argentina v. Uruguay), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2010, p. 14. General comment No. 15 (2002) on the right to water; submission by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights to the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. E/C.12/IDN/CO/1; CERD/C/IDN/CO/3; CERD/C/COL/CO/14; CERD/C/NLD/CO/19-21. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2014, chap. 11, p. 718. Ibid., chap. 7, p. 520.