HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL HOLDS PANEL DISCUSSION ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

The Human Rights Council this morning held a panel discussion on climate change and the rights of the child, highlighting the wide-ranging effects of climate change and its disproportionately adverse impact on children’s health, education and development.

Amr Ramadan, Vice-President of the Human Rights Council, explained that the Council had convened the panel discussion on the adverse impacts of climate change on States’ efforts to realize the rights of the child pursuant to Council resolution 32/33.

In her opening remarks, Peggy Hicks, Director of the Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that climate change posed an existential threat to children and future generations. Human rights law and in particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child required the international community to take action to address that threat.

Maria Teresa T. Almojuela, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines, served as the panel’s moderator. The panellists were Ha Kim Ngoc, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam; Shameem Ahsan, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva; Marilena Viviani, Director, UNICEF Geneva Liaison Office, Division of Public Partnerships, United Nations Children’s Fund; Kirsten Sandberg, Member, Committee on the Rights of the Child; and Kehkashan Basu, Founder, Green Hope Foundation.

Ms. Almojuela said the discussion was deeply important to the Philippines as it was one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change. In that connection, the Philippines sought to highlight the link between climate change and the enjoyment of human rights by developing environmental policies that addressed and protected children’s rights.

Ha Kim Ngoc, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, said there were many challenges to combatting the negative impacts of climate change on children’s rights. For developing countries, the lack of resources, and weak infrastructure and forecast capacity made it harder to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change on vulnerable groups, including children. The international community had to ensure that children’s rights were fully mainstreamed into all international initiatives.

Shameem Ahsan, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Office at Geneva, underlined the nexus between climate change and development, noting that climate change would disproportionately affect vulnerable groups within countries and vulnerable regions in the world. Climate change created a domino effect, starting with the damage to the environment, which would then engender social, economic and political changes and crises.

Marilena Viviani, Director of the UNICEF Geneva Liaison Office, Public Partnerships Division, said climate change undoubtedly currently represented one of the most fundamental threats facing the world’s children and future generations. It affected children’s rights as outlined in the Convention of the Rights of the Child in multiple ways, from access to food and water, to health, development and education – a combination of factors that posed a threat to their very survival.

Kirsten Sandberg, Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, recalled that almost all the substantive rights of the child could be affected by climate change. It also had more indirect impact on the ability of Governments to protect children’s rights. At the same time, by aggravating existing inequalities, climate change could cause violent conflicts, exploitation and large-scale migration or displacement.

Kehkashan Basu, Founder of the Green Hope Foundation, said the debilitating impact of climate change had added a new, unpredictable dimension to the challenges that the world was grappling with. Environmental apathy must be done away with, and children had a leadership role to play and mould the future the way they wanted it. If there was one battle the world could not afford to lose, it was the fight against climate change, the greatest threat to human survival.

During the discussion, speakers noted that climate change jeopardized children’s right to health, food, drinking water and education, and they encouraged a participatory approach to the fight against climate change. Children, women and youth had been identified as those most vulnerable to climate change effects. Accordingly, speakers called for the inclusion of gender dimension in policy deliberations on climate change. They expressed belief that education was critical when preparing children for the future and in making them environmentally aware. Children and youth were agents of change and, as such, central to meaningful action on low-emission and climate-resilient sustainable development.

Taking the floor were Costa Rica on behalf of a group of countries, European Union, El Salvador on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Canada on behalf of Organisation Internationale de la of Francophonie, Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Tunisia on behalf of the African Group, Kyrgyzstan, Argentina, Spain, Slovenia, France, Germany, Ethiopia, Chile, Greece, Venezuela, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Benin, Micronesia, El Salvador, Iran, China, Australia, Tonga, Malaysia, Georgia, Ireland, Morocco, Algeria, India, Bolivia, and Egypt.

Also taking the floor were the following civil society organizations: CIVICUS – World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Istituto Internazionale Maria Ausiliatrice delle Salesiane di Don Bosco, Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers), International-Lawyers.Org, International Youth and Student Movement for the United Nations in a joint statement, and International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Centre de Recherche et d'Initiatives pour le Dialogue, in a joint statement with Verein Sudwind Entwicklungspolitik.

The Council is holding a full day of meetings today. At noon, it will resume its interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, and the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.

Opening Statements

AMR RAMADAN, Vice-President of the Human Rights Council, opened the panel discussion on climate change and the rights of the child pursuant to Council resolution 32/33, in which the Council decided to convene a panel discussion on the adverse impacts of climate change on States’ efforts to realize the rights of the child and related policies, lessons learned and good practices.

PEGGY HICKS, Director of the Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted that every parent wanted to leave a better world to their children. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was founded in human rights and dignity. The Agenda explicitly promised to reduce inequalities and leave no one behind. Climate change posed an existential threat to children and to future generations. Human Rights Council resolution 32/33 described children as among the most vulnerable to climate change, which may have a serious impact on their enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, access to education, adequate food, adequate housing, and safe drinking water and sanitation. Human rights law and in particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child required the international community to take action to address that threat. The Committee on the Rights of the Child had called upon States to put children’s health concerns at the centre of their climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. Poor children, children with disabilities, indigenous children and girls suffered the worst consequences of climate change. The World Health Organization estimated that climate change related to under-nutrition alone would lead to 95,000 additional deaths per year in children under the age of five by 2030.

The Paris Agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change had highlighted the importance of taking urgent, rights-based action, specifically calling for States to take into consideration their respective obligations related to the rights of the child and intergenerational equity and to hold warming below 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial level. Human rights, climate justice and intergenerational equity all meant that while all had obligations to address climate change, those who had contributed most to climate change should contribute most to addressing its impacts. Adults, particularly wealthy consumers, developed countries and the private sector were the most responsible for climate change. Ms. Hicks urged Member States to not simply view children as a legacy to be protected. A human rights based approach to climate action required more than that. It required that children be empowered as agents of change, that they received adequate education to cope with the challenges of the future, and that their voices were heard and integrated in everyday deliberations.

Statements by the Panel Moderator and the Panellists

MARIA TERESA T. ALMOJUELA, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines and panel moderator, welcomed delegates and said it was a privilege to moderate this morning’s panel. The panel discussion on climate change and the rights of a child was deeply important to the Philippines as it was one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. The Philippines was counting on the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement and renewed international cooperation in order to mitigate and adapt to the harmful impacts of climate change. In that connection, the Philippines endeavoured to highlight the link between climate change and the enjoyment of human rights by developing environmental policies that directly addressed and protected children’s rights.

HA KIM NGOC, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, said there were many challenges to combatting the negative impacts of climate change on children’s rights. For developing countries, the lack of resources, and the weak infrastructure and forecast capacity made it harder to adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change on vulnerable groups, including children. The bigger challenge lay in raising awareness on how climate change hurt children’s rights. Only when adults fully comprehended how climate change could obstruct the growth of children would the international community be able to build children-centred climate change adaptation and mitigation policies. Another concern was the insufficient attention to educating children about measures to combat climate change. The Government of Viet Nam believed there were three key areas of focus in responding to the adverse effects of climate change on the rights of children. First, it was essential to develop child-centred policies in adapting to climate change and mitigating its negative impacts. Climate change communication should be given equal focus as child protection during disasters or recovery after disasters, which required active participation of all stakeholders. Second, more efforts had to be devoted to improving public knowledge and awareness on climate change and its impacts on children. There was a need to build a climate change literate generation through fostering children’s education on climate change. Last but not the least, international cooperation on climate change, particularly on addressing its impacts on children, was indispensable. The international community had to ensure that children’s rights were fully mainstreamed into all international initiatives.

SHAMEEM AHSAN, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Office at Geneva, underlined the nexus between climate change and development. Climate change would disproportionately affect vulnerable groups within countries and vulnerable regions in the world. Climate change created a domino effect, starting with the damage to the environment, which would then engender social, economic and political changes and crises. It was reassuring that the Paris Agreement, “the game changer” in the language of many, truly had the potential to relieve grave concerns on the impact of climate change over time, particularly through nationally determined contributions which followed a bottoms-up approach. The Paris Agreement further stated that all climate action was to be taken respecting, promoting and considering human rights obligations. Through its nationally appropriate mitigation action, Bangladesh had adopted an energy security policy, putting in place the solar homes programme which provided off-grid electricity access to rural areas and extended the length of study periods for children. Further, Bangladesh was scaling up the potential of solar irrigation pumps, and solar mini and nano grids to address energy access for the off-grid population to increase agricultural production and thus ensure food security for vulnerable groups such as children. Mr. Ahsan then proposed several possible entry points for further action in the Paris Agreement, such as that the “loss and damage” mechanism adequately responded to human rights obligations, particularly in the context of the rights of the child, and to ensure that the protection of children with regards to displacement was adequately addressed in the work of the task force established by the Warsaw International Mechanism.

MARILENA VIVIANI, Director of the UNICEF Geneva Liaison Office, Public Partnerships Division, said climate change undoubtedly currently represented one of the most fundamental threats facing the world’s children and future generations. It affected children’s rights as outlined in the Convention of the Rights of the Child in multiple ways, from access to food and water, to health, development and education – a combination of factors that posed a threat to their very survival. The adverse effects of climate change included an increased frequency of hydro-meteorological events that affected a rising number of vulnerable populations, as well as drought and floods that destroyed harvests, increasing food insecurity. Moreover, climate change exacerbated the conditions for diseases that were currently the major causes of mortality for children under five years old: diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia. She called for the improvement of energy efficiency to limit the rise in global temperatures, investment in community-resilient facilities resistant to disasters, and climate change education.

KIRSTEN SANDBERG, Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, reminded that almost all the substantive rights of the child could be affected by climate change: the right to life, survival and development, non-discrimination, the best interests of the child, as well as the rights to rest, leisure, play, recreational activities, cultural life and the arts, freedom from exploitation, protection from all forms of violence, the right to health and an adequate standard of living, housing, food, water and sanitation, to education and to identity. Climate change could also have more indirect impacts on the ability of Governments to protect children’s rights. For example, in Bangladesh some families had rushed to marry off girls in anticipation of losing their homes to river erosion. Furthermore, by aggravating existing inequalities in the use of and access to productive land and freshwater, climate change could cause violent conflicts, exploitation and large-scale migration or displacement.

Climate change posed an existential threat to indigenous children due to their close relationship with the environment. A child-rights-based approach to climate change was urgent. When determining what mitigation and adaptation measures to take, States had to take into account the rights and best interests of the child. Education was children’s main source of gaining environmental information, and it played a significant role in empowering children to become actors of change. That was in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 4, target 7, calling upon States to ensure that all learners acquired the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including through education on human rights. Children’s right to participation in decision-making was crucial and they had a great capacity for doing so. At present, children’s concern for the environment was not reflected in the degree to which they were able to participate meaningfully in decision-making on a wide range of global environmental issues that mattered to them now and in the future. Particular regard had to be given to children with disabilities, children of indigenous groups and other children in vulnerable situations. They should not be seen primarily as vulnerable and in need of protection, but as actors to be involved, like all children.

MARIA TERESA T. ALMOJUELA, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations Office at Geneva, and panel moderator, introduced the next panellist, Kehkashan Basu, a 16 years old founder of the youth sustainability organization Green Hope Foundation, Youth Ambassador of the World Future Council, and a recipient of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize.

KEHKASHAN BASU, Founder of the Green Hope Foundation, recalled that she was born in the year of the new millennium, the same year the global community had adopted the Millennium Development Goals and committed to spare no effort to free fellow women, men and children from the abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty. But the reality was that every year since then, human suffering, particular that of children, had continued to plumb new depths and the gap between the haves and have nots had widened even further. The debilitating impact of climate change had added a new, unpredictable dimension to the challenges that the world was grappling with. She asked why climate change was being ignored as a myth, underlining that it was the harshest reality of our times. Environmental apathy must be done away with, and children had a leadership role to play and mould the future the way they wanted it. That was why Ms. Basu had established Green Hope in 2012, to provide young people with a platform to come together and take actions on mitigating climate change and define their own destiny. This had now grown into a multi-regional organization with a management team comprising of children only and more than 1,000 active volunteers across several countries fighting for climate justice, protecting biodiversity, stopping land degradation, and fighting for gender equality. Green Hope conducted “environmental academies”, tailor-made workshops and conferences conducted “by youth-for youth” to raise awareness, and the success had been tremendous since peer to peer communication was always more effective. If there was one battle the world could not afford to lose, it was the fight against climate change, the greatest threat to human survival, concluded Ms. Basu.

Discussion

Costa Rica said it was deeply committed to building bridges between the human rights and climate change agendas. Additional steps were needed to secure the realization of the rights of the child, which were often overlooked in the setting and implementation of environmental policies and standards. European Union said the inclusion of the human rights of the child in the preamble of the Paris Agreement was an important reinforcement of the need to ensure that climate policies were sustainable and responsive to the needs of rights holders. El Salvador said the adverse effects of climate change were most felt by vulnerable groups such as children. It was urgent to continue to fight the adverse impacts of climate change in developing countries and affecting children living in extreme poverty. El Salvador called on industrialized countries to step up their assistance. Canada said that climate change exacerbated inequalities in the health sector. Children were particularly vulnerable and represented 80 per cent of deaths resulting from climate change. Canada asked how social networks could be used to raise awareness of the issue. Pakistan said developing countries bore the majority of costs of climate change and it adversely impacted their economies. It also made it harder for them to fulfil their international obligations related to children. Tunisia, speaking on behalf of the Africa Group, said climate change remained among the biggest obstacles to Africa’s economic development and had far-reaching consequences to the future of the continent as a whole.

Kyrgyzstan reminded that climate change led to increasing external and internal migration, affecting children’s right to education, health care and social skills. Argentina warned of the vulnerability of 50 small island countries directly endangered by climate change. Climate change had created a new category of migrants, the so-called environmental or climate refugees, among which children were particularly vulnerable. Spain noted that children who were the least responsible for climate change would bear most of its brunt. A concerted strategy by Governments, private companies and civil society was needed to prepare children for the effects of climate change. Slovenia underlined the importance of mainstreaming human rights in the climate agenda, especially with respect to children’s rights, including providing adequate education and environmental awareness. France noted that climate change jeopardized children’s right to health, food, drinking water and education, and it encouraged a participatory approach to the fight against climate change. Germany stated that children and youth were agents of change and, as such, central to meaningful action on low-emission and climate-resilient sustainable development.

CIVICUS – World Alliance for Citizen Participation stressed that the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement were symbiotic and should be delivered in tandem, which required coordinated implementation across a wide range of interrelated areas and coherent support of the United Nations system. Istituto Internazionale Maria Ausiliatrice delle Salesiane di Don Bosco reminded that due to climate change, children left school and were forced to work, and that some died of starvation. Careless mining and commercial activities contaminated lands and water sources, polluted air and caused health problems. Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers) warned of the unprecedented global temperature rise and species extinction, and called for immediate, sufficient and rights-based climate action to address the root causes of climate change.

Remarks by the Panel Moderator and the Panellists

MARIA TERESA T. ALMOJUELA, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations Office at Geneva and panel moderator, addressed the first question to Ms. Basu on the role of social media in promoting awareness.

KEHKASHAN BASU, Founder of the Green Hope Foundation, said that social media and social networks were very useful as they circumvented geographical boundaries, and those were the main way of communication that Green Hope used to communicate with its volunteers. Social media must be used responsibly, as it was sometimes not possible to verify the information posted on it.

MARIA TERESA T. ALMOJUELA, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations Office at Geneva and panel moderator, asked about best practices on mainstreaming children’s rights in climate change adaptation and mitigation.

SHAMEEM AHSAN, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Office at Geneva, noted the efforts of a town in Bangladesh, Rajshahi, which had been one of the world’s most polluted cities, and had achieved tremendous progress in reducing air pollution and ridding itself of air particles that were so harmful to human health. The progress had been reported by the Guardian in June last year. The town had taken a number of measures including reducing the use of fossil fuels, addressing deforestation, replacing the brick kilns, and introducing pavements which had dramatically cut down the amount of dust in the air.

MARIA TERESA T. ALMOJUELA, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines and panel moderator, asked panellists about the intergenerational aspect of climate change and how to educate children on the issue.

HA KIM NGOC, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, said it was essential to build a climate-change literate generation and that several approaches were needed on that front. He stressed, among other things, the need to involve children in the process in order to get to know more about the adverse impacts of climate change.

MARIA TERESA T. ALMOJUELA, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines and panel moderator, asked about the intergenerational aspect of the issue of climate change

KIRSTEN SANDBERG, Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, said it was important to get children involved in the work, and not just in a token way. They needed to be consulted when States make specific policies.

MARILENA VIVIANI, Director of the UNICEF Geneva Liaison Office, Public Partnerships Division, noted that a gender equality approach was needed that paid particular attention to girls. Do not harm and do the right thing should be the message conveyed. Involving children in all aspects of consultations and working through the community was also key.

MARIA TERESA T. ALMOJUELA, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines and panel moderator, noted that the Philippines was promoting child responsive training in communities, improving guidelines to reunify separated children from families, and helping to involve children in post disaster needs assessment.


Discussion

Ethiopia underlined that strong collaborative efforts were needed to address the challenge of negative impacts of climate change on children’s rights. Chile underscored the tangible link between climate change and human rights, especially the rights of those who were most vulnerable. Climate change affected girls and boys disproportionately. Greece noted that by integrating human rights in climate actions and policies, and by empowering people to participate in policy formulation, the international community could promote sustainability and policy coherence in line with human rights obligations. Venezuela said that children were more opposed to climate change and the community of nations thus had to take immediate action to address those challenges in the spirit of cooperation. Myanmar stated that the inclusion of vulnerable communities was crucial to mitigate and adapt to climate change, which was why the Government of Myanmar had developed a number of plans and strategies. Sierra Leone reminded that poor countries would suffer most from climate change even though they contributed least to greenhouse gas emissions. How could States be held responsible for negligence in their failure to address climate change mitigation measures that had such a deleterious impact on the human rights of all, including children? Benin reminded that 66.5 million children were affected by severe meteorological changes every year, and that figure could rise to 175 million in the next decade.

Micronesia stressed that while other countries might only hear or talk about the impacts of climate change, Micronesia was feeling those impacts first-hand, such as sea level rise and coastal erosion and more frequent and intense typhoons, which were beginning to infringe on the right to live, survive and develop. El Salvador said it was among the most vulnerable countries to climate change and its coastal regions - which had least contributed to climate change - were under threat. It was imperative to ensure the funding for adaptation and mitigation, and transfer of technologies in line with common and differentiated responsibilities. Iran agreed that children were among the most vulnerable to climate change, and stressed that climate change would be passed to the next generation until adequate financing and technology transfer mechanisms were in place. China said it was one of the first signatories to the Paris Agreement and had initiated a number of projects to address climate change and would continue international cooperation on clean energy. Australia recognized that the impacts of climate change cut across sectors and asked how the Council could more effectively promote a harmonized approach to those issues within the tapestry of international agencies and institutions.

International-Lawyers.Org noted that the responsibility for adequate action to protect the human rights of children was mainly in the hands of developed States, although the children most affected were mostly from developing countries. International Youth and Student Movement for the United Nations asked how the Council could strengthen its work on the right to development in the context of climate change and its impact on human rights, and expressed support for the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change. International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, in a joint statement, urged the international community to, inter alia, address education and nutrition needs of the children from agriculture-based communities, and ensure their involvement in the climate change dialogue.

Tonga noted that children, women and youth had been identified as most vulnerable to climate change effects. To that end Tonga had developed a climate financing and risk governance assessment which included gender and social inclusion considerations. Malaysia noted that the depth and breadth of climate change impacts on children required continuous and concerted efforts, such as sharing of best practices. How could different States best work together in that respect and where else, except the Council, could that topic be addressed? Georgia expressed belief that education was critical when preparing children for the future, and to that end it had established environmental education centres that focused on programmes about energy efficiency, water resources and waste management. Ireland asked the panel’s views about concrete ways in which human rights standards and mechanisms could contribute to the collective response to the negative impact of climate change on the rights of the child. Morocco underlined the importance of the joint responsibility of States in addressing the negative effects of climate change. Algeria said that as hundreds of millions of children worldwide suffered from climate change, the international community had to coordinate a global response based on dialogue.

Centre de Recherche et d'Initiatives pour le Dialogue, in a joint statement with Verein Sudwind Entwicklungspolitik, said climate change was a man-made phenomenon, and that it was of vital importance for the next generations if governments controlled corporations. The international community needed to leave a better world for its children. India said mortality associated with global warming mainly affected children under five. Urgent action was needed to mitigate the effects of climate change on future generations, and India was home to the largest number of children in the world. Bolivia said climate change knew no borders, and developing countries were disproportionately affected despite not causing climate change. A human rights-based approach to climate change entailed promoting the right to development. Egypt said climate change was a dangerous phenomenon facing communities, and children were more affected by that phenomenon, depriving them of many of their rights. The sustainable development agenda, if implemented, could help promote the right to development.

Concluding Remarks

MARIA TERESA T. ALMOJUELA, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations Office at Geneva and panel moderator, remarked that many questions had been raised related to the role of the Human Rights Council in addressing the impact of climate change on children’s rights, as well as the accountability of States in this regard.

HA KIM NGOC, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, stressed that United Nations agencies could play a very important role in addressing the rights of children in the context of climate change. First, they could support research and education efforts, and work on reducing disaster risks. In Viet Nam for example, the United Nations agencies had supported a multi-sectoral impact assessment of climate change, they had been working with the Government to produce documents on the impact of climate change on children and integrating those documents in the curriculum to increase the knowledge of children on how to deal with the adverse impact of climate change. In the framework of the national disaster risk reduction, the United Nations agencies had been supporting the work in remote areas, including through financing.

SHAMEEM AHSAN, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Office at Geneva, stressed the need to remind States of their international obligations and responsibilities and particularly their responsibilities under the Paris Agreement. Also important was to educate the population and so create the bottom-up demand for action. Linked to this was the need to have in place adequate legislation and this must be encouraged.

MARILENA VIVIANI, Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund Geneva Liaison Office, on the accountability of States and remedies to children, said that States had their global duties and responsibilities. Having gender and geographically disaggregated data was important to enable adequate action by policy makers, and States also had a duty to ensure access to child-friendly information, and to ensure children’s participation. The legal texts and framework that contained accountability duties included the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

KIRSTEN SANDBERG, Member, Committee on the Rights of the Child, said she wanted information in the reports on what States did to mitigate climate change. Reports were also needed from civil society on what States did and did not do as regards climate change. If answers or concerns were conveyed, a recommendation could be made. What States did to keep businesses accountable was also interesting.

KEHKASHAN BASU, Founder, Green Hope Foundation, said children should be involved in implementation, adding that if climate change was not tackled, there would be a catastrophe. Children needed to be involved in deciding the future.

MARILENA VIVIANI, Director, UNICEF Geneva Liaison Office, Division of Public Partnerships, United Nations Children’s Fund, said initiatives had come from all aspects of society, and a great anticipation was sensed. She expressed hopes that a detailed analytical study by the Secretariat would convey a road map, noting that the panel had contributed substantially.



For use of the information media; not an official record

HRC17/012E