expression, including the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds.” 45 As the Human Rights Committee has stated “States parties should proactively put in the public domain Government information of public interest.” 46 In the context of climate change, this includes making available early warning information about the effects of climate change, and transparency regarding adaptation and mitigation measures, their potential impacts and their financing. Given that persons, groups and peoples in vulnerable situations face greater risk and threats from climate change, it is particularly important that the right to meaningful and informed participation in decisions likely to affect their rights and survival is honoured. In addition to being a human rights obligation, ensuring meaningful and informed participation of all persons in climate policy should also improve outcomes. According to the IPCC, “recognition of diverse interests, circumstances, social-cultural contexts and expectations can benefit decision-making processes” and consequently, enables an effective and rights-based approach to tackling the threat of climate change.47 During the panel discussions, panellists emphasized the importance of ensuring the participation of people in vulnerable situations. Noting that women constituted 43 per cent of the agricultural labour force and were critical food producers, Xiangjun Yao stated that engaging women in relevant policymaking was critical to food security. She called for climate policy that addresses the situation and conditions of those most vulnerable to climate change, includes all relevant stakeholders in decision-making processes, enables communities to share knowledge and good practices, and strengthens accountability processes. Elizabeth Mpofu called upon States to give voice to the voiceless in the discussion of climate change. La Via Campesina represents over 200 million marginalized people, including peasants and fishermen whose voices are not being adequately heard in the climate debate. As a practicing woman farmer from Zimbabwe, she had witnessed first-hand, the impacts of climate change on human rights, particularly the rights to life, food, health, housing, education, self-determination, development and water and sanitation. According to Ms. Mpofu, the inadequate representation of poor and marginalized people in decision-making processes had contributed to these violations and facilitated the subordination of State responsibilities to protect human rights to powerful corporate interests. Companies had engaged in unsustainable and indefensible practices, including landgrabbing, excessive exploitation of mineral resources, over-reliance on fossil fuels and destruction of nature and livelihoods. Persons, groups and peoples in vulnerable situations, including indigenous peoples, peasants and women, had suffered the greatest impacts of these actions and many had been displaced from their lands. Ms. Mpofu stated that developed countries, through their trade and investment negotiations and even their efforts to mitigate climate change through the mechanism to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, had further perpetuated human rights abuses and land-grabs and prioritized the interests of the few over those of the many. For example, biofuels and export 45 See also United Nations Human Rights Committee, CCPR/C/GC/34, General comment No. 34: Article 19: Freedoms of opinion and expression (12 September 2011). 46 Ibid, para 19. 47 IPCC, AR5, p. 19 Page 21 of 28