Children’s Voices Must Be Heard on Climate Crisis, Says UN Rights Body
The Committee on the Rights of the Child urges governments to respond to young people’s concerns about environmental threats
August 28, 2023 | Source: The Guardian | by Isabella Kaminski
Governments must respond to growing concerns expressed by children about the effects of the climate crisis and other environmental emergencies on their lives and futures, a UN body has said.
In a strongly worded formal opinion published on Monday, the Committee on the Rights of the Child concludes that the triple planetary crisis – the climate emergency, the collapse of biodiversity and pervasive pollution – “is an urgent and systemic threat to children’s rights globally”.
It also points to structural challenges that pose a longer-term threat, such as greenhouse gas emissions, the unsustainable use of resources and ecosystem degradation.
Children are demanding action on these interconnected crises, said 14-year-old Francisco Vera, a Unicef youth advocate for environmental and climate action in Latin America and the Caribbean, “precisely because adults haven’t taken the responsibility for it”.
The UN opinion spells out, for the first time, that states have a duty to safeguard a clean, healthy and sustainable environment for young people alive today, as well as future generations.
The committee outlines the immediate risks that children face from poor air and water quality, a lack of food safety and exposure to toxic pollutants such as lead – especially children with disabilities, belonging to minority or Indigenous groups, and living in areas vulnerable to climate breakdown and disasters.
It also points to structural challenges that pose a longer-term threat, such as greenhouse gas emissions, the unsustainable use of resources and ecosystem degradation.
Children are demanding action on these interconnected crises, said 14-year-old Francisco Vera, a Unicef youth advocate for environmental and climate action in Latin America and the Caribbean, “precisely because adults haven’t taken the responsibility for it”.
The UN opinion spells out, for the first time, that states have a duty to safeguard a clean, healthy and sustainable environment for young people alive today, as well as future generations.