A/HRC/56/47 evidence sources, including where adaptation options and any potential trade-offs are discussed, seek to build trust, and integrate local knowledge and perspectives. 122 Risk assessment processes should support the State’s determination of planned relocation as a measure of last resort123 and involve meaningful consultation with communities throughout all stages of the process. 124 70. The responsibility to consider all possible alternatives to prevent displacement is especially pertinent in non-emergency circumstances.125 States must prioritize the right to remain and prevent displacement by mitigating environmental risks and reducing the exposure and vulnerability of populations in disaster-prone areas by adopting disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation measures. Due diligence should be exercised to ensure that disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation measures are based on data and evidence. 126 The legal and institutional framework should provide for the right to choose whether to relocate or remain in the current location; the choice made should be respected and facilitated by the Government through the provision for alternative forms of support, such as assistance in strengthening resilience and adaptation measures and access to livelihood opportunities. 127 The decision-making process in this context is critical and should involve both communities and authorities collectively in the relocation process. Those who wish to stay must be provided with adequate time and opportunity to propose alternative options by the relevant authorities. 71. People should be able to voluntarily relocate on any grounds, based on the human rights to freedom of movement and choice of residence. 128 Involuntary relocation is a restriction of the right to choose one’s place of residence that must be provided for by law. 129 Relocation against the will of the affected community can be imposed only when necessary as an exceptional measure130 and provided the reasons are set out in law. Sound risk and vulnerability assessments are essential for justification as an exceptional measure. 72. Representatives of affected communities and local governments should develop, in consultation with relevant State authorities, inclusive relocation plans that prioritize the centrality and protection of human rights and that are voluntary, informed and free from coercion. Such plans should specify each activity to be undertaken and where, the time frame for completion, the estimated cost, the actors responsible and the overall relocation schedule. The plan should also clarify monitoring, evaluation and reporting modalities. E. Consent and meaningful participation 73. Community participation and consultation starts long before planned relocation becomes an option, for example with community participation in disaster risk reduction and risk assessments.131 States must obtain the consent of affected individuals and communities before undertaking any relocation efforts;principle 7 (3) of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement provides guarantees that must be complied with, including a formal decision 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 Ibid. Guidance for Protecting People from Disasters and Environmental Change through Planned Relocation, para. 10; and Nansen Initiative on Disaster-Induced Cross-Border Displacement, “Agenda for the protection of cross-border displaced persons in the context of disasters and climate change: volume I”, December 2015, para. 94. See also A/HRC/52/28, paras. 24 and 64 (e) and the basic principles and guidelines on development-based evictions and displacement. Scott Leckie and Chris Huggins, eds., Repairing Domestic Climate Displacement: The Peninsula Principles (Routledge, 2016). Walter Kälin, Internal Displacement and the Law (Oxford University Press, 2023). A/HRC/47/37, para. 59. See OHCHR et al., Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons: Implementing the Pinheiro Principles in the Middle East and North Africa (forthcoming). Submission by the International Centre for Climate Change and Development. See also the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, art. 21. Submission by David James Cantor. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 12 (3). Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), art. 16. Leckie and Huggins, Repairing Domestic Climate Displacement. 17