On the inaugural Children’s Day at #COP28, let’s raise their voices to champion climate education and child’s rights.
Dubai, UAE – There’s never been a more crucial time to stand up for kids everywhere and help prepare them to survive and thrive in their ever-changing world.
Children have a right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment but the severity and scope of the triple planetary crisis, which includes the climate emergency, declining biodiversity, and widespread pollution, poses an imminent and comprehensive danger to the rights of children worldwide. If you listen to kids you will understand that they want to help but they also want to know that their rights are being protected.
“The climate has changed and we are paying the price for something we didn’t do, and that is not fair.”
Lova Renee, 13, from Madagascar.
“We dream of a future with clean water, a future where food security is a reality and we get to go to school without worrying about floods or high heats. The world leaders owe it to future generations.”
Revan Ahmed, 13, from Libya.
“Every child deserves access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a fundamental right.”
Holden Jones, 20, from Canada.
“Every year of my life there has been a COP, and every year world leaders have failed to acknowledge the special needs and vulnerabilities of children in the climate crisis.”
Vanessa Nakate, the 27-year-old Ugandan climate justice advocate and Unicef goodwill ambassador.
“Without climate education, there will no climate solution.”
Licypriya Kangujam, 12, from India.
In these final days of COP28, the spotlight must be on children. Integrating human rights into climate action must include an expert dialogue on children’s rights. Governments must accept that children face distinct risks in the face of climate change. And they must agree to give proper consideration to children’s rights and needs when it comes to formulating climate policies, taking action to combat climate change, and allocating funds.
“We have a unique moment in history where we can champion child rights at COP28 for a global generation of kids growing up in a world threatened by accelerating climate change.”
The ChariTree Foundation’s executive director Andrea Koehle Jones
“Children are the most impacted and least to blame for the climate crisis,” said Andrea Koehle Jones, The ChariTree Foundation’s executive director and lead children’s climate education advocate. “We have a unique moment in history where we can champion child rights at COP28 for a global generation of kids growing up in a world threatened by accelerating climate change.”
So far, the world’s response to the climate crisis has been slow and disappointing. Millions of children and youth are already paying the price for this inaction. That’s why kids everywhere are calling on world leaders and the international community to show courage and take thoughtful and urgent action at COP28 in Dubai. Their future is on the line.
The ChariTree Foundation is calling on leaders at COP28 to:
- Protect the lives, health and well-being of children and youth.
- Educate every child by supporting transformative, formal and informal climate education at all levels, including science-policy interface studies and lifelong learning processes, recognizing diverse world views, values and knowledge systems of indigenous peoples and local communities. When children understand climate change and how it impacts them and the world they depend on, they are more likely to make a lifelong commitment to protect the environment for themselves and future generations.
- Uphold, broaden and realize ambitious global sustainability and climate change objectives. while phasing out dependency on fossil fuels with a clear timeframe.
- Honour the historic agreement on loss and damage deal reached on first day of Cop28 talks by funding the fund with a focus on children’s needs; embedding child rights in the fund’s oversight and decision-making procedures.
- Ensure that children and services essential for adapting to a changing climate are included in the ultimate resolution of the Global Goal for Adaptation (GGA).
The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP28, runs from 30 November until 12 December 2023, in Dubai.
The ChariTree Foundation is a United Nations Climate Observer Organization, putting children’s rights at the forefront of climate action to improve their education, health, and future.
Follow The ChariTree Foundation @love_trees on Twitter for the latest.
Contact Andrea Koehle Jones at info@charitree-foundation.org