crops had been favoured over locally grown and consumed food. Forests were being taken away from indigenous peoples who relied on them for their livelihoods, shelter, balanced diets and way of life. People were losing their right to self-determination. Participation was critical to address these problems and indigenous peoples must have a voice and vote in climate-related decisions. In the context of indigenous peoples, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) further clarifies that States should obtain the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples before taking any actions that affect their rights including actions related to climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. Dan Bondi Ogolla agreed that response measures to climate change, such as activities under the auspices of the clean development mechanism, could sometimes violate human rights. He called for human rights principles, such as participation and freedom of information to guide the implementation and development of relevant policies. The importance of participation had been emphasized in a variety of COP decisions , which had held, inter alia, that responses to climate change should be integrated with social and economic development plans; all stakeholders should be engaged in the development and implementation of climate change policies; and adaptation actions should follow a participatory approach, taking into account the views of and likely impacts on those in vulnerable situations. During the interactive dialogues, delegations also highlighted the importance of integrating human rights in climate policy, including participation, access to information and access to justice. The rights of those most affected by climate change “We cannot continue to avoid the injustice faced by the poorest, the most vulnerable, and those on the front line” Anote Tong, President, Republic of Kiribati Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that “all human beings are born equal in dignity and rights”. The Declaration, the ICCPR and the ICESCR all contain explicit provisions related to equality and non-discrimination. States have further committed to the principles of equality and non-discrimination in a number of international treaties and other legal instruments including the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and instruments that address the rights of particular persons, groups and peoples such as the CEDAW, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, CRPD, the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development and the UNDRIP. These instruments require States to respect, protect, promote, and fulfil the rights of all persons, particularly those who face added social, economic or political vulnerabilities. As previously discussed, climate change has disproportionate impacts on the rights of persons, groups and peoples in vulnerable situations. According to the IPCC, “people who are socially, economically, politically, institutionally or otherwise marginalized are especially vulnerable to climate change and also to some adaptation and mitigation responses”. 48 This fact has been 48 IPCC, AR5, p. 54. Page 22 of 28