At the end of its 87th session, the Committee on the Rights of the Child announced that it will initiate a General Comment on children’s rights and the environment with a special focus on climate change. 

The General Comment will provide long-overdue authoritative guidance on how children’s rights are impacted by the environmental crisis and what States must do to uphold these rights. This is a major achievement that follows long-term advocacy from the Child Rights Connect Working Group on child rights and environment and it is a step closer to ensure children’s right to a healthy environment!   

“The Committee regularly meets with many delegations of children whereby climate change is often front and centre of the exchanges. Children refer to the dramatic events they witness and that impact their daily lives such as rising ocean levels, loss of biodiversity, worsening air pollution, increased hurricane activity, and the frequency and size of wildfires. This was the case when the Committee held its 84th Extraordinary Session in Samoa in March 2020.”, explained the Committee in its statement to announce the General Comment.

At Child Rights Connect we have also observed an increasing number of reports to the Committee covering the environment and this was a major focus during the Committee 84th Extraordinary Session in Samoa, with a dedicated event on Climate change with discussions with 11 Child Activists of the Pacific. 

Over the coming months, the Committee will consult with States, experts, interested parties, and especially hundreds of children to produce its General Comment. We encourage you to monitor the OHCHR webpage to stay tuned! 

Watch and share the video message of Chair Mikiko Otani and spread the news on social media using #GCEnvironment and #MyPlanetMyRights