UN seeks to help children battling climate change in court
A United Nations body on Monday updated a key treaty designed to protect children's rights to strengthen their hand in fighting climate change, as they emerge at the forefront of the battle to protect the planet.
From wildfires in Portugal to fossil fuel projects in the U.S. state of Montana, young plaintiffs have been taking the lead in a burgeoning number of lawsuits seeking more government action on climate change.
In the document, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child calls environmental degradation, including the climate crisis, "a form of structural violence against children".
It says that states should provide access to justice for children, including through "removing barriers for children to initiate proceedings themselves".
"This could definitely strengthen their hand because now there's a fully articulated set of guidance that pulls everything together in one place," said Ann Skelton, chair of the committee and a South African lawyer, adding that she also hoped businesses and policy makers would draw on the document.
Some 16,000 children across more than 100 countries were consulted as part of a broader dialogue during the two-year drafting period for the guidelines. Tânia dos Santos Maia, a 14-year-old from Brazil, said she expected the UN document to make children and adolescents more aware of their rights.
The guidance was broadly welcomed, however, some say it does not go far enough. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg asked the committee "to be more vigorous and somewhat bolder" during consultations, UN committee member Philip Jaffé told Reuters. Thunberg was not immediately available for comment via a spokesperson.
Lawyers representing six young people from Portugal, who are taking 32 countries before the European Court of Human Rights for what they see as government inaction over climate change, said they think it will reinforce their case.
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China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
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China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
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A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.