CRC/C/GC/26
A.
Child rights-based approach to environmental protection
6.
The application of a child rights-based approach to the environment requires the full
consideration of all children’s rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the
Optional Protocols thereto.
7.
In a children’s rights-based approach, the process of realizing children’s rights is as
important as the result. As rights holders, children are entitled to protection from
infringements of their rights stemming from environmental harm and to be recognized and
fully respected as environmental actors. In taking such an approach, particular attention is
paid to the multiple barriers faced by children in disadvantaged situations in enjoying and
claiming their rights.
8.
A clean, healthy and sustainable environment is both a human right itself and
necessary for the full enjoyment of a broad range of children’s rights. Conversely,
environmental degradation, including the consequences of the climate crisis, adversely
affects the enjoyment of these rights, in particular for children in disadvantaged situations or
children living in regions that are highly exposed to climate change. The exercise by children
of their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, to information
and education, to participate and be heard and to effective remedies can result in more rightscompliant, and therefore more ambitious and effective, environmental policies. In this way,
children’s rights and environmental protection form a virtuous circle.
B.
Evolution of international law on human rights and the environment
9.
The Convention explicitly addresses environmental issues in article 24 (2) (c), by
which States are obliged to take measures to combat disease and malnutrition, taking into
consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution, and under article 29 (1) (e),
by which they are required to direct the education of children to the development of respect
for the natural environment. Since the adoption of the Convention, growing acceptance has
emerged of the wide-ranging interconnections between children’s rights and environmental
protection. Unprecedented environmental crises and the resulting challenges for the
realization of children’s rights require a dynamic interpretation of the Convention.
10.
The Committee is mindful of efforts of relevance to its interpretation, including: (a)
the recognition of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment by the
General Assembly2 and the Human Rights Council;3 (b) the framework principles on human
rights and the environment;4 (c) the existing and evolving norms, principles, standards and
obligations under international environmental law, such as the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement; (d) the legal developments and
jurisprudence at the regional level recognizing the relationship between human rights and the
environment; and (e) the recognition of some form of the right to a clean, healthy and
sustainable environment in international agreements, the jurisprudence of regional and
national courts, national constitutions, laws and policies by a vast majority of States. 5
C.
Intergenerational equity and future generations
11.
The Committee recognizes the principle of intergenerational equity and the interests
of future generations, to which the children consulted overwhelmingly referred. While the
rights of children who are present on Earth require immediate urgent attention, the children
constantly arriving are also entitled to the realization of their human rights to the maximum
extent. Beyond their immediate obligations under the Convention with regard to the
environment, States bear the responsibility for foreseeable environment-related threats
2
3
4
5
2
General Assembly resolution 76/300.
Human Rights Council resolution 48/13.
A/HRC/37/59, annex.
See A/HRC/43/53.
GE.23-11144