UNITED NATIONS, Aug 29 (APP): A United Nations committee has updated a key treaty designed to protect children’s rights to strengthen their hand in fighting climate change, as they emerge at the forefront of the battle to protect the planet.
The 1989 treaty outlines children’s rights, including life, health, clean drinking water, and survival and development.
In the document, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child calls environmental degradation, including the climate crisis, “a form of structural violence against children”.
It says that states should provide access to justice for children, including through “removing barriers for children to initiate proceedings themselves”.
“This could definitely strengthen their hand because now there’s a fully articulated set of guidance that pulls everything together in one place,” said Ann Skelton, chair of the committee and a South African lawyer, adding that she also hoped businesses and policymakers would draw on the document.
Children have been at the forefront of the fight against climate change, urging governments and corporations to take action to safeguard their lives and the future, Committee member Philip Jaffé said.
“The Committee on the Rights of the Child not only echoes and amplifies children’s voices but also clearly defines the rights of children in relation to the environment that States Parties should respect, protect and fulfil collectively and urgently,” he added.
It specifies that States are responsible not only for protecting children’s rights from immediate harm, but also for foreseeable violations of their rights in the future due to action, or inaction, today.
Furthermore, it underlines that States can be held accountable for environmental harm occurring both within their borders and beyond.
Countries that have ratified the UN Child Rights Convention are urged to take immediate action including towards phasing out fossil fuels and shifting to renewable energy sources, improving air quality, ensuring access to clean water, and protecting biodiversity.
David Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, called General Comment No. 26, “a vital step forward” in recognizing that every child has the right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable world.
“Governments must now take urgent action to address the global environmental crisis in order to breathe life into these inspiring words,” he said.
General Comment No. 26 is the outcome of global and intergenerational engagement, including broad consultation with UN Member States, international and regional organizations, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, and children themselves.
