Belém/Berlin, November 22, 2025 – At the conclusion of the 30th UN Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil, the children's rights organization Terre des Hommes a mixed conclusion:
"As a children's rights organization, we measure the outcome of the UN Climate Change Conference by whether the long-overdue protection of the rights of children and young people has become evident. Unfortunately, this is not really the case: While young people were granted an important role and active participation, there is a lack of substance in other important areas, especially regarding the practical implementation of the agreed-upon children's rights," says Terre des Hommes spokesperson Joshua Hofert.
"One example is the fund for climate damage: On the one hand, children and young people are supposed to be involved in decision-making. On the other hand, there was no agreement on compensation for child-specific damages: Children and young people who experience impairments in their development, education, or health as a result of climate change will therefore continue to receive no compensation." "To involve children but not grant them any right to compensation leads to the only conclusion that they are not being taken seriously."
In the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference, Terre des Hommes together with nine other children's rights and environmental organizations, demanded that the rights of present and future generations of children and young people be made the basis of all climate policy decisions .
Terre des Hommes representatives were also present in Belém and worked at the climate conference to ensure that the rights and voices of children and young people were taken into account in the negotiations and decisions. Célia Alldridge, Terre des Hommes project coordinator in Brazil, also points to positive results:
"The climate crisis is always also a question of intergenerational justice, and it cannot be fairly addressed without the perspective of children and young people. Compared to previous COPs, children and young people were able to participate much more strongly here in Belém – with the result, for example, that the text on climate adaptation takes into account the particular danger that climate change poses to children." These are good approaches, but as always in climate policy, what matters most now is that words are followed by deeds and that the major levers for climate protection are pulled.