Children’s vulnerability to climate change, as a result of their particular physical, social and psychological characteristics threaten the realization of many of their rights as stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other human rights instruments. Climate change particularly impacts:
- The right of a child to have his or her best interests be a primary consideration in all actions concerning him or her (Article 3)
- The right to life; Governments should ensure that children survive and develop healthily (Article 6)
- The right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health (Article 24)
- The right to education (Article 28).
The existence of these rights in a legally binding treaty means that governments are obliged to remove any barriers to their fulfillment. Almost every country has ratified the Convention, which serves as a framework for protecting child rights in climate change-related policies.[1]
[1] Climate Change, Child Rights and Intergenerational Justice, IDS, 2009. ids.ac.uk/go/ids publication/climate-change-child rights-and-intergenerational-justice.
