Child rights organizations are calling for departure in climate and environmental protection
Berlin, April 16, 2024: For the first time, the UN guidelines on child rights are available on a healthy environment in German. For publication, the child rights organization Terre des Hommes and the Children's Rights National Coalition Germany are calling for more decisive action to protect the livelihoods of children and future generations worldwide.
The guidelines are based on the United Nations Child Rights Convention, which the Federal Republic of Germany has also ratified. The UN Children's Rights Committee first had the so-called »General Comment No. "Presented so that an independent right of children on a healthy environment derived from the convention and clarified: states must act immediately and decidedly to limit global warming, to contain the pollution and to stop the species extinction. Extensive obligations also follow from existing children's rights such as the right to life, survival and development.
"Climate change and pollution threaten the rights of children in a previously never known global size," says Joshua Hofert, Board of Directors Communication and spokesman for Terre des Hommes Germany, "The child's rights committee is now taking into account this: If states do not act immediately, they are responsible for the consequences - also beyond their limits and up to coming generations. In particular, an industrial nation like Germany, which has contributed above average in global comparison to global warming, must meet this responsibility. «
Terre des Hommes and the National Coalition Germany want to examine in the coming weeks to what extent consequences for concrete political decisions in Germany can also be derived from the guidelines. The General Comment already expressly explains several recommendations for action:
»The General Comment No. 26 It is unequivocally indicated that states that are particularly strong for climate change also have to do more to combat it. Children's rights apply to everyone, but the children of the global south are particularly affected by environmental and climate damage. You may not have to pay the invoice for our CO <sub>2</sub> emissions in the future, «said Bianka Pergande, spokeswoman for the National Coalition Germany.
A joint event with representatives of the United Nations in Berlin will make the start of the implementation of General Comment in Germany. In a panel discussion, among other things, Velina Todorova, member of the UN Children's Rights Committee and Maya-Natuk Rohmann Fleischer, member of the children's advisory board to General Comment No. 26, explain their perspective on its implementation in Germany.
"When it comes to the future of our planet, there should be no excuses," said Rohmann Fleischer in the run -up to the event, "therefore the voices of children and adolescents have to be heard, so the General Comment is so important. He gives governments precisely guidelines to create the good living conditions that they really deserve, especially for children. No child should ever live as too many have to live today. "
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The General Comment No. 26 In German, it is available at www.kinderrechtomen.de
A child-friendly short version of General Comment is available at https://www.tdh.de/general-comment/