Context:

• In a recent directive called General Comment No. 26 concerning children’s rights and the environment, the United Nations officially acknowledged and reinforced the rights of children to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. 

More about the news:

• It emphasizes the urgent need to address the adverse effects of environmental harm and climate change on children.
• It promotes a holistic understanding of children’s rights as they apply to environmental protection.
• It clarifies the obligations of States parties to the Child Rights Convention and provide authoritative guidance on legislative, administrative and other appropriate measures to be undertaken with respect to environmental issues, with a special focus on climate change.

Need of the Guidelines:

• As per WHO-UNICEF-Lancet 2020 report, the future of children around the world, including India, is being threatened by environmental degradation and climate change. 
• Water crisis: Approximately 415 million children are living in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability.
  • In these regions, risks of drought, groundwater table decline, water stress, annual and inter-annaul seasonal variability intersect with low levels of access to water services.
• Health crisis: Children are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat waves, as they have a reduced capacity to regulate their body temperature and protect themselves. 
  • Nearly 90 per cent of the global burden of disease associated with climate change is borne by children under five.

• Nutrition crisis: With increasing frequency and severity of droughts, floods and severe weather, food security gets compromised threatening the nutrition of children.
  • According to UN estimates, by 2030, climate change is expected to generate 95,000 more deaths of children under five years of age each year due to malnutrition.
• Education crisis: Climate change and environmental degradation affects children’s ability to go to school, through its impact on health and well-being of both students as well as teachers. 
• Social protection crisis: Climate change strains the systems to accommodate the needs of the most vulnerable. 
• Climate-related migration:  The 2020 Global Trends report by UNHCR revealed that out of the 79.5 million people displaced by the end of 2019, around 30-34 million were children.
• Ignorance of child rights: International and national frameworks on climate change largely ignore children’s rights. 
  • Children are excluded from key policy processes under the UNFCCC.

Highlights of the General Comment No. 26 guidelines:

• Protection against environmental damages: The UN member states have to take measures to protect children harms caused by environmental degradation and climate change.
• Energy transition: Nations have been urged to equitably phase out the use of coal, oil and natural gas. 
  • Ensure a fair and just transition of energy sources and invest in renewable energy, energy storage and energy efficiency to address the climate crisis.
• Inclusive early warning systems: Priority of all nations to establish them to protect children from impacts of the extreme weather events.
• Grants for children rights: Developed countries have been urged to offer grants instead of loans to address issues affecting children’s rights. 
• Effective Emissions reductions: The nations have been asked to prioritize emissions reductions to support children’s full enjoyment of their rights in the shortest possible period of time and to avoid irreversible damage to nature.
  • According to UNICEF estimates, reducing carbon emissions can prevent 4,000 to 6,000 child deaths due to heat in Africa every year.
• Mitigating climate change-induced migration: Adaptation frameworks should address climate change-induced displacement and include provisions for ensuring a child rights-based approach to these issues.
  • In 2022, extreme weather events around the world displaced at least 12 million children.

Way Forward: Realizing children’s rights in a transforming climate:

• Protecting the rights of indigenous children: It is most affected by deforestation, fires, mercury contamination and climate change, losing their cultural heritage and their right to life.
  • As per a recent study,  indigenous communities in New South Wales were found to be disproportionately exposed to a range of climate extremes.
  • They also experienced higher rates of climate-sensitive health conditions and socioeconomic disadvantages.
• Recognizing Children As Agents Of Change: UNICEF works with young people to elevate their  voices on climate change through creative platforms, advocacy and participation at major United Nations summits. 
  • Children and young people can play a key role in addressing climate-related risks by promoting environmentally sustainable lifestyles and setting an example for their communities.
• Making Children The Centre Of Climate Change Strategies And Response Plans: Information on the impacts of climate change on children must be collected so as to enable interventions to be tailored to their specific needs. 
• Scaling-up of investment in adaptation: Industrialised countries should ensure that poorer countries are supported to transition to net-zero carbon economies to adapt and to prepare for loss and damage.
  • Currently, children receive merely twenty per cent of global public climate finance. 
• Protecting Children From The Impacts Of Climate Change And Environmental Degradation: It is done through:
  • Climate-smart water, sanitation and hygiene services 
  • Sustainable energy and disaster risk response in schools 
  • Sustainable energy and disaster risk response in health centres 
• Recognizing children’s right to climate and environmental education: Governments should take measures to integrate climate change in formal and informal education, including green skills.

News Source: DTE