The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child took a significant step to hold governments accountable for ensuring children live in a clean, green, healthy and sustainable world. They invited people from around the world to inform the General Comment on Children’s Rights and the Environment with a Special Focus on Climate Change (General Comment No. 26) – official United Nations guidance on how children’s rights are impacted by the environmental crisis and what governments must do to uphold these rights.
Mikiko Otani
Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child
I echo the urgent call of children and young people for climate justice. Your voices matter and must be seriously taken into account by States.
It is my hope that the General Comment No. 26 will serve as an impetus for global and national level change by providing authoritative guidance to States on ensuring a child rights-based approach to addressing the environmental and climate crisis.
Consultations
From December 2021 – 2023, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child hosted a series of offline and online consultations and workshops with the global community, including specific consultations with children to inform the General Comment on Children’s Rights and the Environment with a Special Focus on Climate Change (General Comment No. 26) now available here.
