force in developing countries, and more than 90 percent in African countries, engaged in agricultural work, the threats to loss of harvests, often the sole source of food and income, have severe implications for many women in rural areas.30 During the panel discussion, several panellists described the many ways in which climate change affects the enjoyment of the right to food. According to Renan Dalisay, “damage to agriculture and food production caused by climate change negatively impacts livelihoods, food security and the human right to food.” Ana Maria Suarez Franco, Permanent Representative in Geneva for Food First Information and Action Network (FIAN), described how climate changeinduced “extreme events, including droughts and floods, the salinization of water used for irrigation, desertification, [and] water shortages…are affecting the availability of food in the country and cities.” In her remarks during the discussion, Xiangjun Yao, Director of the Geneva Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization, highlighted that the adverse effects of climate change on the realization of the human right to food had to be addressed so that the “more than 800 million people suffering from hunger and two billion people affected by the diverse forms of malnutrition” could see this right fulfilled. In spite of these well-known threats, the international community has not taken adequate climate action and has left climate change, perhaps the single greatest threat to fulfilment of the right to food largely unchecked. The right to water and sanitation Although the right to water is not explicitly recognized in the ICESCR, General Comment No. 15 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights articulates this right stating: “The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses.”31 In its resolution 64/292, the General Assembly recognised “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.”32 The right to water and sanitation is also found in legal instruments such as the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), among others. Pursuant to General Comment 15, “States [sic] parties have to adopt effective measures to realize, without discrimination, the right to water.”33 According to the IPCC, “climate change is projected to reduce renewable surface water and groundwater resources in most dry subtropical regions…intensifying competition for water”.34 The IPCC further found that climate change will likely increase the risk of water scarcity in urban areas and “rural areas are expected to experience major impacts on water availability and supply.”35 According to a recent World Bank report, a 2 degree Celsius average global increase in temperature 30 See UN Women Watch, Fact Sheet: Women Gender Equality and Climate Change (2009). United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 15 (New York: United Nations, 2002), Art. 2. 32 United Nations General Assembly, 64/292: The human right to water and sanitation (2010), Art. 1. 33 UNCESCR, General Comment No. 15, Art. 1. 34 IPCC, AR5, p. 13. 35 IPCC, AR5, pp. 15 – 16. 31 Page 17 of 28