Catch up on a recent event on children's rights and climate change in the latest blog from Felicia Szloboda, UNCRC Project Officer at the Improvement Service.
The Improvement Service recently hosted an online event to discuss the issue of climate change from the perspective of a child’s right to a clean, green, healthy and sustainable environment.
The event brought together those working on children’s rights with colleagues working on sustainability and climate change at local level in Scotland. We were lucky to be joined by Katie Reid, Children’s Environmental Rights and Participation Officer on United Nations General Comment 26, Kevin Browne-Macleod from the Children and Young People Commissioner’s Office (CYPCS) and Sophia Georgescu from the Children’s Parliament.
Both Katie and Kevin emphasised that children’s rights and climate change are inextricably linked; many of the rights covered by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) are impacted by climate change, such as the right to the highest attainable standard of health, both physical and mental. Climate change also intersects with the issue of poverty when it comes to the provision of safe and warm housing and access to transport that connects children and young people to their communities. Today’s generation is most affected by climate change, making tackling the issue a priority now and not in some distant future. Article 12 of the UNCRC states that children have the right to have a say in all matters that affect them. The climate crisis is undoubtedly one of the key issues that matters to children and young people today because it threatens the enjoyment of so many rights that we take for granted.
Participants also heard from Laura, a school girl from Shetland, who spoke about her experience of climate change and the impact this has on her life – highlighting worries about access to food, education, family life and her love of the local beaches. Kevin went on to share the very real example of an outdoor nursery in Aberdeenshire that was seriously damaged by Storm Arwen in the winter of 2021. This affected the pupils’ mental health as well as their rights to education and play. It also meant a loss of income for their parents as they needed to find alternative childcare or they could not go to work at all.
Katie and Sophia have both worked on the Climate Changemakers and Climate Assembly projects at the Children's Parliament and they shared some key messages from children and young people on the issue of climate change. They explained that children and young people would like to see improved climate change education both in formal and informal settings. They want greater access to accurate and reliable information about climate change and the plans of governments and the global community to tackle its effects. Children and young people are also concerned with the degradation of biodiversity, and there is a very strong call for action around rewilding and the restoration of peatlands in Scotland. Lastly, children and young people want to be listened to and taken seriously. They want to be meaningfully involved in the climate change conversation and to see the outcome of their participation.
More information on these projects and the views of children and young people can be found in the reports below:
- Children's Parliament and Scotland's Climate Assembly
- Children's Parliament Investigates: Learning for Sustainability
In relation to the plans of the Scottish Government to incorporate the UNCRC into Scots law, Kevin explained that while change at the cultural level is paramount to advancing children’s rights, the legislation will grant legal powers to children, young people and their representatives to enforce their rights in Scottish courts. Once the UNCRC Bill comes into force, public authorities will not be allowed to act in any way which is incompatible with UNCRC requirements. The Scottish Government will be required to publish a Children’s Rights Scheme to demonstrate how it is meeting UNCRC requirements and explain its future plans to progress children’s rights. Public authorities will also be required to report every three years on what they are doing to meet UNCRC requirements. Children and young people want to have their say on matters that are important to them, and with this piece of legislation we should see their participation in decision-making increase.
We also had the opportunity to learn about General Comment 26. The link between climate change and children’s rights is clear, however, the UNCRC in its original form does not explicitly cover the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. For this reason, in June 2021 the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child committed to developing General Comment 26, which will be an authoritative interpretation of the UNCRC through the lens of environmental harm and degradation - with a special focus on climate change. Katie has been working with 13 child advisers to develop methodologies for involving other children and young people worldwide in the consultation process. The first draft of the General Comment is available for public review here. You can find more information about the consultation process and how to get involved here.
Kevin talked about the work he has been undertaking at the Commissioner’s Office that involves very young children. One of the projects he is currently working on is ‘One Word for One World’ which invites children up to the age of 6 to express their views about the environment. The Commissioner’s Office will create a visual image to bring all views together and share it with the UN to inform General Comment 26. For more information on the projects that the CYPCS Office is involved in, please visit the below links:
To conclude the event, Katie and Kevin emphasised the importance of respecting children’s rights to protest in relation to issues of climate justice. You can read the CYPCS’s position on climate justice and the right to protest below:
We are keen to organise more events to discuss children’s rights from different perspectives in the future. Check the Improvement Service website for updates on future events and follow the UNCRC team at the IS on Twitter: @beckyporty and @Felicia.Szloboda
If you have any further questions about climate change and the UNCRC or would like to know more about the support we provide, please contact the Improvement Service directly. There is also a Children’s Rights in Scotland group on the Knowledge Hub, where staff from Local Government, the public and third sectors can share best practices and discuss new developments.
Update: The UNCRC Bill received Royal Assent on 16 January 2024. The provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 come into force on 16 January.