CHR-NI-2016-0001 Statement of Resource Person, Katherine Lofts differential impacts on different countries, communities, and individuals. The IPCC has concluded that “people who are socially, economically, politically, institutionally or otherwise marginalized are especially vulnerable to climate change”.32 The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has similarly found that the negative impacts of climate change will have a disproportionate effect on individuals, groups and peoples in vulnerable situations, including women, children, older persons, Indigenous peoples, minorities, migrants, rural workers, persons with disabilities, the poor, and those living in vulnerable areas (for example: small islands, riparian and low-lying coastal zones, arid regions, and the poles).33 (ii) Right to self-determination and development34 The ICESCR affirms that "[a]ll peoples have the right of self-determination", stating that "[b]y virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development."35 As affirmed in the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development, the right to development is an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized. 36 Both the economic and non-economic costs of climate change are immense, and pose a grave threat to the realization of sustainable development and selfdetermination in the Philippines. For example, the 2017 Philippine Climate Change Assessment notes that in the area of human health alone, "[t]he potential impacts of climate change are projected to be USD 5 to 19 million by 2050 in terms of loss of public safety, increased vector- and water-borne diseases, and increased malnutrition from food shortages during extreme events"37, not to mention those costs that cannot be easily quantified. The impacts of climate change on a range of economic sectors and services – including agriculture, water, fisheries, energy, transportation, and tourism – will diminish Filipinos' ability to enjoy, contribute to, and participate fully in economic, social, and cultural development, and will make it more difficult for the government to ensure the realization of the right to development and other economic, social and cultural rights. 32 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II, Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, Summary for Policymakers at 6 [IPCC]. 33 OHCHR Discussion Paper, supra note 10 at 1. 34 ICESCR, supra note 16 at Art 1(1); ICCPR, supra note 29 at Art 1(1); UNGA Res 41/128, Declaration on the Right to Development, UN Doc A/RES/41/128 (4 December 1986) at Art 1(1) [Declaration on the Right to Development]. 35 ICESCR, supra note 16 at Art 1(1). 36 Declaration on the Right to Development, supra note 34 at Art 1(1). 37 Cruz et al, supra note 4 at 9. 6