This is the first time that this entity has defined children’s right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment through General Comment No. 26, according to a press release published here.
This provision provides a comprehensive interpretation of states’ obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by 196 countries.
Through these regulations, the Committee on the Rights of the Child not only echoes and amplifies their voices, but also clearly defines its safeguards in relation to the environment that states parties must collectively and urgently respect, protect and comply with, and are recognized in this regard. Philip Jaffe, committee member.
The text cited by the United Nations added that new generations, even the youngest, have been at the forefront of the fight against climate change by calling on governments and companies to take measures to protect their lives and their future.
The 1989 treaty sets out children’s rights, including the rights to life, health, clean water, survival and development.
The new note elaborates on the climate emergency, biodiversity collapse, and large-scale pollution, recognizing the responsibility of governments to protect children from immediate harm and from expected future violations of their rights due to current action or inaction.
This provision ensures that States can be held liable for environmental damage that occurs within and outside their borders.
In this scenario, states that have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child are urged to take immediate action.
Among other things, it calls for phasing out fossil fuels and switching to renewable energy sources, improving air quality, ensuring access to drinking water and protecting biodiversity.
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