{"id":3208,"date":"2020-07-01T18:41:09","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T18:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crcasia.org\/?p=3208"},"modified":"2020-10-17T05:34:33","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T21:34:33","slug":"a-joint-call-to-action-to-un-human-rights-council-children-have-a-right-to-a-healthy-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crcasia.org\/a-joint-call-to-action-to-un-human-rights-council-children-have-a-right-to-a-healthy-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"A Joint Call to Action to UN Human Rights Council: Children have a Right to a Healthy Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"

CRC Asia joins the call to action for the Human Rights Council’s Annual Full-Day Meeting on the Rights of the Child taking place from 30 June to 2 July in Geneva. In this call, we voice out the recommendations of the children who took part in the 2019 Asian Children’s Summit<\/a> held in November 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand and in the Global Initiative on Advancing Children\u2019s Right to a Healthy Environment: Regional Expert Consultation for East Asia and the Pacific<\/a> held in October 2019 in Bogor, Indonesia.<\/h4>\n

The joint Call to Action is published on the CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS INITIATIVE (CERI) <\/a>website the pdf version of the statement can be downloaded here.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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On 1 July 2020 at the Human Rights Council’s Annual Full Day meeting on the Rights of the Child, the Children\u2019s Rights Environmental Initiative (CERI) together with the Child Rights Connect Working Group on Environment and with the support of more than 20 institutions and high-level experts from around the world, presented a joint Call to Action to the Human Rights Council demanding formal recognition of children\u2019s right to a healthy environment.<\/p>\n

The following statement calls on governments to strengthen their commitments to adopt a child rights-based approach to environmental and climate-related initiatives and identifies 7 concrete measures for action.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Realising children\u2019s right\u00a0to\u00a0a healthy environment:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A joint Call to Action for the HRC Annual Full-Day Meeting on the Rights of the Child<\/strong><\/h2>\n

June 2020<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“We do not need hope, we need action. The actions taken by world leaders today are those that will define them and their legacy in their future. Children and future generations are watching.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Message to world leaders received from child via Children\u2019s Environmental Rights Initiative online poll, 2020\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

At a time when the world is in a deep health crisis, and as children\u2019s rights globally suffer severe setbacks due to the impacts of\u00a0the\u00a0COVID-19\u00a0pandemic, attention must not be diverted from the environmental emergency that is undermining children\u2019s rights and\u00a0future prospects\u00a0around the world.<\/p>\n

Each year more than 1.7 million children under the age of five lose their lives as a result of avoidable environmental\u00a0degradation, while millions more\u00a0suffer\u00a0disease, disability, and an array of other forms of harm, some of which can result in lifelong effects. Children\u2019s rights are under threat due to insufficient government measures to address\u00a0the climate crisis, unprecedented levels of biodiversity loss, exploitation of natural resources, exposure to toxic substances and waste, and widespread pollution of the air, water and soil.\u00a0Negative effects are disproportionately experienced by\u00a0girls, children\u00a0in poverty, indigenous children, children with disabilities and others in vulnerable situations, exposing them to intersecting risks\u00a0and often violating the principle of non-discrimination.<\/p>\n

In light of\u00a0this, millions of children and youth across the world are calling for more urgent and ambitious action to tackle the root causes and impacts of the global environmental crisis.<\/p>\n

For the annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child, Member States should ensure that children\u2019s voices are not only heard, but acted upon, by placing children\u2019s rights and best interests at the core of ambitious and concrete environmental actions and policies, including recognition of a human right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.\u00a0 The time is ripe for action.<\/p>\n

RECOMMENDATIONS<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. Place children\u2019s rights at the heart of environmental policies and action<\/strong><\/p>\n

A general lack of awareness of the many links between a safe and healthy environment on the one hand, and children\u2019s rights on the other,\u00a0combined with\u00a0weak political will, represent fundamental obstacles to the respect, protection\u00a0and fulfillment of children\u2019s rights\u00a0in the context of\u00a0environmental measures.\u00a0The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) provides a clear normative framework for realizing children\u2019s rights through a healthy environment, but consideration of the treaty\u00a0remains largely absent from environmental or climate-related policies, laws, and\u00a0action.\u00a0\u00a0We call on States to:<\/strong><\/p>\n