A/HRC/RES/57/15
Expressing its concern that Indigenous Peoples experience disproportionately high
levels of violence and rates of incarceration and disability, driven by multiple factors,
including exposure to dangerous working conditions, environmental pollution, systemic
poverty, racism and discrimination, as well as lower standards of living, malnutrition and
lack of access to or poor quality of available health services, especially in remote areas,
Recognizing the increasing impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss and
environmental pollution on the enjoyment by Indigenous Peoples of their rights and their
ways of life, including Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact, and that
they are among the first to face the direct consequences of climate change, biodiversity loss
and environmental pollution owing to their close relationship with and protection of the
environment and its resources, while welcoming the role of Indigenous Peoples and their
knowledge, and particularly the engagement of Indigenous women and girls, who have faced
the adverse impacts of climate change with resilience, in achieving the objective of the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the purpose and goals of the Paris
Agreement and the targets and goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,
Recalling the preamble to the Paris Agreement and to decision 1/CP.21 on the
adoption of the Paris Agreement8 acknowledging that States should, when taking action to
address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on the
rights of Indigenous Peoples, paragraph 135 of decision 1/CP.21 recognizing the need to
strengthen knowledge, technologies, practices and efforts of Indigenous Peoples related to
addressing and responding to climate change, and paragraph 36 of the outcome document of
the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples,
Recognizing that failing to consider the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the context of
the just transition to sustainable energy systems could lead to further injustices,
marginalization and discrimination, as well as the loss of their lands or territories and natural
resources,
Urging States to recognize, respect and promote Indigenous Peoples’ traditional
economies, approaches led by Indigenous Peoples to ecosystem management and the right
of Indigenous Peoples to the conservation and protection of the environment and the
productive capacity of their lands or territories and resources, including water resources, as
set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, through their
full and effective participation,
Mindful that Indigenous Peoples face significant barriers to the enjoyment of their
right to the improvement of their economic and social conditions, including in the area of
housing, as set out in article 21 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, owing to different factors, such as historical colonization and dispossession,
disproportionately high rates of homelessness, and vulnerability to forced evictions, landgrabbing and the adverse impacts of climate change, and acknowledging the need to ensure
that Indigenous Peoples enjoy the right to the improvement of their economic and social
conditions, including in the area of housing, without discrimination,
Condemning all forms of repression and violence against Indigenous Peoples and
reaffirming that, as set out in article 7 (2) of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples have the collective right to live in freedom, peace
and security as distinct peoples and shall not be subjected to any act of genocide or any other
act of violence, including forcibly removing children of the group to another group,
Acknowledging that Indigenous Peoples’ distinct political, legal, economic, social and
cultural institutions and their customs, traditions, rules and legal systems include their own
approaches to conflict prevention, conflict resolution, mediation and peacebuilding,
Emphasizing that transnational corporations and other business enterprises have the
responsibility to respect all human rights and should put in place human rights due diligence
processes to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their impact on
human rights, as well as paying particular attention to their impact on collective rights of
Indigenous Peoples, and reaffirming the primary responsibility of States to respect, protect
8
FCCC/CP/2015/10/Add.1.
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