General Comment No. 26 on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
It is a milestone for children's rights, environmental protection, and climate action: In the summer of 2023, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child adopted "General Comment No. 26." This officially clarifies that every child has the right to grow up in a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.
The basis is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. 196 states have ratified it, incorporated it into national law, and thereby committed themselves to the fundamental rights of every child – for example, the right to health; to an adequate standard of living; and to life, survival, and development.
It is now clear: When it comes to these children's rights, states can no longer ignore the consequences of their actions on the climate and the environment. They must act much more decisively to limit global warming, stop species extinction, and curb pollution.
New standards for children's and youth participation
Terre des Hommes has been fighting for children's right to a healthy environment for more than ten years. In recognition of this expertise, our organization was commissioned as an official partner of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to compile key content for the General Comment – and to organize one of the largest children's participation processes in the history of the United Nations.
The document is the result of a year and a half of consultations in which a total of 16,331 children and young people from 121 countries submitted their demands. Alongside experts in environmental and children's rights, a Children's Advisory Team – twelve children and young people from twelve countries – worked closely with the Committee on the Rights of the Child throughout the entire process.
"The General Comment links the environment and children's rights. We are at a point where we must ask ourselves what the future of our planet will look like. It is the hand we hold, the branch we sit on, and the key to our future. For us children, this future is practically our entire lives. Let us act now – not tomorrow! – to defend children's rights!"
Kartik, 17, Child Advisor from India
Regarding General Comment No. 26
Each General Comment on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is an official legal assessment that specifies what the content of the convention means for a specific topic. The now published »General Comment No. 26 On Children's Rights and the Environment with a Special Focus on Climate Change «expressly addresses the impending climate catastrophe, the extinction of species and the continuing pollution. Against this background, the document names necessary countermeasures to protect life and the life perspectives of children.
- The international community must act quickly and decisively. States must enact laws to protect the environment. And they must ensure that these laws are enforced.
- Future generations also have rights: States are not only responsible for stopping current violations of children's rights, but also for preventing future violations of rights as a result of their current actions - or inaction.
- States can be held responsible not only for environmental and climate damage within their borders, but also outside their territory.
- Particular attention is paid to the disproportionately greater harm suffered by children who are already disadvantaged due to their environment or life situation.
What needs to be done now
Now it is crucial to hold governments and businesses accountable. The General Comment itself provides clear guidelines for action. States that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child must, among other things, immediately organize the phase-out of coal, oil, and natural gas, switch to renewable energies, improve air quality, ensure access to clean water, and transform industrial agriculture and fisheries into healthy and sustainable food production.
Demanding this change from politicians and businesses will be a key task for children's and youth activists, as well as children's rights organizations like Terre des Hommes . We will continue to stand firmly by the side of children and young people and support them in exercising and enforcing their now enshrined right to a healthy environment.
