A/77/549 Descent. 92 People of African and Asian descent, Indigenous peoples, Roma, refugees, migrants, stateless persons and other racially and ethnically marginalized groups are all affected by environmental racism, which must be addressed to the fullest extent possible under international human rights law. 46. The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, which remains the international community’s most comprehensive plan to eliminate racism and racial discrimination, offers recommendations on tackling environmental racis m. For example, it calls for increased support for people of African descent to invest in “environmental control measures” and offers several recommendations for “non-discriminatory measures to provide a safe and healthy environment for individuals and groups of individuals victims of or subject to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance”. 93 47. Environmental racism and climate injustice interact with other forms of social exclusion, such as discrimination on the grounds of gender, age and disability. It should be recognized in intersectional analyses of environmental and climate-related human rights violations that women, older persons, persons with disabilities and gender and sexually diverse persons who are members of racially marginalized peoples face distinct human rights violations. In several submissions this point is made explicitly. Women in particular play important roles in rural and agricultural life, and they are typically on the front line of environmental and climate-related human rights violations. Indeed, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences has reported that climate change-induced violence against women is a distinct phenomenon caused by the feminization of intersecting vulnerabilities. 94 Elderly persons and children are also vulnerable to climate harms, in particular when they live in economically marginalized communities or States with limited economic resources to support their specific needs. Persons with disabilities similarly require resources to adapt and mitigate harms caused by climate change, and these resources are typically denied to certain States and racially marginalized communities owing to systemic discrimination. 48. Environmental justice and climate justice are often linked to the right to development on sustainable terms. The right to development is intended to guarantee both a right to social and economic progress and the realization of all other human rights through self-determination and equal sovereignty. In the Declaration on the Right to Development, the General Assembly states that the right of peoples to selfdetermination includes the exercise of their inalienable right to full sovereignty over all their natural wealth and resources. The right to development “implies the full realization of the right of peoples to self-determination”, which includes the right freely to determine their political status and to pursue their economic, social and cultural development. 95 49. In the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 96 the General Assembly explicitly recognizes the importance of environmental protection in preventing discrimination against Indigenous Peoples. In article 29 it affirms that “Indigenous Peoples have the right to the conservation and protection of the environment and the productive capacity of their lands or territories and resources. States shall establish and implement assistance programmes for Indigenous Peoples for such conservation and protection, without discrimination.” In article 29 it also applies the “free, prior and informed consent” principle to the storage or disposal of hazardous materials in the lands or territories of Indigenous Peoples. In article 32 it __________________ 92 93 94 95 96 22-24043 See A/HRC/48/78. Durban Programme of Action, paras. 5, 8(c) and 111. See A/77/136. General Assembly resolution 41/128, art. 1(2). General Assembly resolution 61/295. 15/24