One Ocean Hub at “Code red, the planet is burning! Children’s rights to a healthy, safe and sustainable environment in the midst of a climate crisis?” Conference

May 2022 — Professor Morgera shared insights from the One Ocean Hub at the 12th international conference “Code red, the planet is burning! Children’s rights to a healthy, safe and sustainable environment in the midst of a climate crisis?” (5th-6th May 2022), which fostered proactive, interdisciplinary dialogue between stakeholders, including children, in relation to children’s human rights and the climate crisis. Several members of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child participated in the conference, and indicated that a draft of the new UN General Comment on Children’s Rights to a Healthy Environment will be made available for public comment in October 2022, and the finalization of the Comment is expected in April 2023.

 

Image by Gerd Altmann on Pixabay 

Following previous contributions to global consultations on the Comment by the Ocean Ocean Hub ('Contributing to global consultations on children's right to a healthy environment' and 'Including the ocean in international guidance on children's right to a healthy environment'), Professor Elisa Morgera presented to the conference on children’s human right to a healthy ocean and safe climate. Central to this discussion was asserting the, often absent, right to a healthy ocean within the right to a healthy environment. Prof. Morgera considered how children’s human rights are dependent on a healthy ocean, both substantively and procedurally, as we face serious regressions in biodiversity, access to safe and nutritious seafood, and the displacement of indigenous and coastal communities. 

And so, in looking forward to GC26, it is critical that together we:

  1. Support a holistic approach to the environment, moving away from notions of non-integrated environmental issues towards human rights at the nexus of climate change, biodiversity and the ocean.
  2. Refer to the right to a healthy ocean explicitly, so it is not forgotten in discussions of the right to a healthy environment.
  3. Recognise children as rights-holders, and facilitate their meaningful participation in environmental, ocean and climate decision-making at all scales.
  4. Clarify that children’s human rights entail clear, binding legal obligations which uphold the principle of intergenerational equity in international environmental law and the law of the sea, integrating the interpretation of due diligence obligations under international environmental law and the minimum standards of conduct under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
  5. Clarify the content of children’s right to environmental education and their participation in its creation, prioritising raising awareness and identifying capacity gaps in relation to the ocean and its importance for children’s right to a healthy environment, participation, and the right to culture, among others. 

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