ABSTRACT Climate change is in itself a serious threat of human survival and development. There are many vulnerable groups in the context of environmental degradation—the poor, the elderly, women, and those in locations at particular risk. Children are not unique in this sense. However, they constitute a large percentage of those w[*]ho are most vulnerable, and the implications, especially for the youngest children, can be long term.[1] This paper discusses the particular and disproportionate risks to children from an aspect of climate change. It explores the potential impacts on children’s health, learning and psychosocial well-being, and considers these implications as hindrances for the stakeholders to realize the international obligation with a view to promoting the best interest of children.
KEYWORDS human rights / children / climate change / impacts / international law
Introduction
Climate change is one of the major challenges of twenty-first century and imposes reasonable hardship to the environment as well as the human life. The impacts of changing river flows, retreating glaciers, altered ecosystems and new patterns of extreme weather threaten the security of human life in large scale. Though global collective action is highly needed to prevent potentially calamitous impacts of our unprecedented experiments with the planetary climate system, some commentators argue that responsibility for climate change is not equally distributed as well as climate change would not affect all people equally; some nations and groups are more vulnerable than others.[2] This socio-political process benefits some developed nations and disadvantage the most vulnerable. Against this background, the article aims to explore one of the social dimensions of climate change which has been given less consideration for a long time. This includes the human rights concerns of environmental problems. Climate change initially threatens food security, public health, property and livelihood of the people living in society. This paper considers, in specific, the child rights perspective to climate change. The relevance to consider child rights particularly in changing climate system derives from a very common saying that children are full of possibilities and future of a nation and climate change undermines the prospects and possibilities of children across the globe. The UN Convention on Rights of the Child calls for recognition that children’s particular status engenders specific forms of vulnerability, interests and entitlements. It thus identifies children as a priority group for special intervention, with regard for example to appropriate provision and protection from any kind of exploitation and harm.
The starting point informs that children especially in many developing countries are critically exposed to the impacts of climate change. The effects of longer and more intense droughts, repeated floods and shifting seasons are severely restricting their education and creating community pressures that result in children being more at risk from economic and sexual exploitation, and in consequence, climate changes causes child rights to become even more difficult to safeguard, as adults, communities and governments do not fully appreciate the threats to their children’s future or are increasingly powerless to fulfil their responsibilities to protect them[3]. The issues raised in this article also concentrate on the existing international instruments on child rights and the effects of climate change on their realization
The interlinkages between child rights and environmental changes are very deep and complex. Problematic in this regard is the fact that the most important international instruments on climate change, UN Framework on Climate Change (FCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol do not provide a complaint procedure for any person including children to seek remedy for injury caused by climate change.[4] The implementation of the basic principles of Convention on Rights of Child as well the accomplishments of Millennium Development Goals have been under threat by the effects of climate change. In this stage, the article also advocates for better understanding of the impact of environmental hazards on children rights in international sphere
Linkages between environment and human rights
The interdependence between human rights, environment and development has been started to be recognized since the late of 1960. Despite the fact that no existing UN document expressly declares the existence of a human right to a sound environment, the right can be originated from various human rights recognized by UN instruments. From UN Charter to 1993 World Conference on Human Rights assert the protection and promotion of human rights with the consideration of human worth and dignity irrespective of birthplace, color, caste, language and other attributes. The protection and improvement of man’s environment arise directly out of a vital need to protect human life, to assure its quality and condition and to ensure the prerequisites indispensible to safeguarding human dignity and development of human personality.[5] Initially, the right to a standard living adequate for health and well being in Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) has been declared as a human right. [6] International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in addition argues for ‘‘right to life’’[7] and reaffirms ‘‘the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health’’[8]. Thus, as with the rights to life, there is a strong connection between human health and the state of earth’s environment
The UN Conference on the Human Environment 1972 in Stockholm demonstrated the connection between environment and development adopting a human rights approach to environmental protection affirming that improvement of human environment is a major issue which affects the well being of people. It proclaims the fundamental rights to freedom, equality, a life of dignity and well being while simultaneously according human beings have ‘‘a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations’’.[9] To underline the sensivity and complexity of these matters, later on in 1992 during the World Conference on Environment and Development it proved impossible to find sufficient support for repeating, let alone enhancing the 1972 references to environmental rights[10]. The Expert Group on Environmental Law of World Commission on Environment and Development developed the ‘concept of sustainable development’ as ‘‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and suggested a list of legal principles including the right to a healthy environment as a fundamental human right’’[11]
The regional human rights standard also follows to recognize the connection between environment and human rights. Convention of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights declares the rights to ‘‘a general satisfactory environment favorable to their development’’[12]. With regards to American human rights framework, San Salvador Protocol states that ‘everyone shall have the right to live in a healthy environment and the parties of the protocol shall promote the protection and promotion of the environment’.[13]
However the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 1997 and the Kyoto Protocol do not refer to environmental human rights at all. The former convention[14] only requires the parties to protect climate system for the benefit of the present and future generations of mankind. In line with this, Aarhus Convention additionally represents the most explicit and far reaching international legal formulation of a rights to environment by protecting ‘‘the right of every person and future generations to live in an environment to his or her health and well-being’’ through access to information, public participation in decision making and access to justice in environmental matters.[15] During late 2007, however, the UN General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which also proclaims “Indigenous peoples have the right to the conservation and protection of the environment...”[16]
The precedents of several international, national and regional courts similarly have revealed the inter-relation of the issues of human rights and environment in various petitions. In a case heard by European Commission on Human Rights, a claim alleging sound pollution from London Heathrow Airport where petitioner claimed that noise violated their right to privacy, home and property guaranteed by articles 6(1), 8, 13 of the European Convention and article 1 of the Protocol 1.[17] The court concluded that Heathrow’s’ aircraft did adversely affect the quality of private life and enjoyment of home, thus the competing interest of the individual and the community must be balanced. At national level the Oposa case[18] was filed against the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Philippines, seeking to have him cancel all the timber license agreements (TLAs) in the country. 44 children represented by their parents invoked their right to a balanced and healthful ecology and to protection by the State. The Supreme Court confirmed the concept of intergenerational responsibility in so far as the right to a balanced and sound environment is concerned. Moreover in international legal arena, one of the authoritative judicial decisions concerning the legality under international law of the use or the threatened use of nuclear weapons was delivered by International Court of Justice where the court observed ‘the environment is not an abstraction but represents the living space, the quality of life and the very health of human beings, including generations unborn’.[19]
Like civil and economic rights as well as so called ‘third generation’- environmental rights also impose on the state an obligation to protect it and to prevent others from its destruction. That’s why it can be said that the causal relation of environment and human rights becomes very clear through the lens of international law and practices. Very recently, end of March 2008, the UN Human Rights Council also linked rights to the issue of Climate Change. In accordance with assisting environmental rights, the state must consider the human rights approach to environmental protection in order to ensure a healthy environment for its citizens
Effects of environmental harms on children
Although climate change is a global phenomenon, the effects of global warming, rising sea levels or natural disasters are felt unevenly around the world. Countries which are least equipped to deal with climate change seem to be hit hardest. In these poor countries children particularly are more impacted by environmental disruption than adults and because their immune systems have not fully been developed, children are vulnerable to toxics, bacterial and viral contamination. Studies show, ‘The total number of people killed by natural disasters between 1996 and 2005 was 84 per cent higher than the number of people killed in the decade before. While earthquakes may or may not be triggered by climate change, the example from the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 illustrates the point: of the 226,408 people killed by the tsunami, more than half were women, and in some regions four times as many women as men were killed. More than a third of those killed were children’.[20]
UNICEF in its work acknowledges, ‘the potential impact on children has been a critical missing element from the debate about climate change. Whilst there is a growing body of literature on the links between climate change and vulnerability, particularly in relation to the impact of natural disasters, research and advocacy activity on climate change and children specifically are less developed’.[21] However the international community has recently started to recognize the child rights violation due to climate change. Specific actions for child survival, protection and development need to be undertaken in accordance with goals endorsed by the 1990 World Summit for Children whereas the summit urges that the interests of children must be taken fully into account in the participatory process for sustainable development and environmental protection
The lack of environmental protection on the outset hampers a child’s right to life and good health. It could be linked to any environmental disruption that directly contributed to the loss of lives.
This right to health, closely linked to the right to life, is often violated in cases of climate change. Children in poor countries are more likely than adults to perish during natural disasters or succumb to malnutrition, injuries or disease in the aftermath. Natural disasters may force children out of their homes – or even their countries. Evidence shows under-five child mortality rates in poor countries are routinely much higher than those of adults.
| Table 1. Under-five and crude mortality rates in a range of countries Country | U-5 mortality rate (per thousand) | Crude mortality rate (per thousand) |
| Japan (high income) | 4 | 8 |
| Finland (high income) | 4 | 10 |
| Canada (high income) | 6 | 7 |
| China (lower middle income) | 27 | 7 |
| Guatemala (lower middle income) | 43 | 6 |
| Bangladesh (low income) | 73 | 8 |
| Mozambique (low income) | 145 | 20 |
| Somalia (low income) | 225 | 17 |
Source: UNICEF (2007)[22]
Again, Save the Children in its study finds, ‘some 170 million children under five suffer chronic malnutrition. Those in Africa are the most at risk from increases in drought due to climate change: African countries have been identified as being the most vulnerable to drought, and since the 1960s droughts have particularly affected the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and Southern Africa. As many as 220 million people in Africa are exposed to drought every year’.[23] While available data is mainly on child health aspects, it is reasonable well documented that climate change is likely to affect children disproportionately overall.[24] Due to the environmental disruption, the right to physical and economic access to adequate food and clean water is progressively under pressure. .
With sea levels rising, more and more children living on islands and in coastal areas, have and would be deprived of (parts of) their property and shelter.
There is no doubt about the serious impact of climate changes on children across the globe. It impedes the growth and development of a child’s physical and physiological wellbeing. In this regard it is necessary and relevant to develop a greater understanding of the impact of climate change on children and take appropriate measures by states to protect them from its consequences.
Rights of the child in international law and climate change:
As stated earlier, human rights approach to climate changes focuses on the potential human rights violation vis-Ã -vis, environmental protection is a pre-requisite to the enjoyment of basic rights of human being. The serious consequence of climate change makes it impossible for human beings to enjoy the rights to life and food, health and standard way of living. As less obvious factors, climate change can also frustrate the right of self determination and right not to be discriminated against.[25] Thus it can be argued climate change entangles the realization of human rights contained in international documents.
In consideration with child rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child neither directly declares environmental protection as a human right nor omits environmental rights clause in the text. It expressly secures ‘rights to health’;[26] ‘survival and development of the child’,[27] ‘right to live with family’[28]; in addition with that, ‘right to health and right to education’[29] do refer to clean drinking water, environmental pollution, environmental sanitation and respect for natural environment as a subject in education. The legislative history of the Convention on the Rights of the Child depicts that there was no intention to posit a separate right on environmental protection; rather they admit environment should be considered when implementing certain human rights.[30] Likewise State Reporting Procedures or Concluding Observations by the Committee on the Rights of the Child relatively pay little attention on environmental issues.
Convention on the Rights of the Child advocates for certain human rights of children in reference with best interest of child. Among them the right to life, health, education, or survival and development are at danger in a changing ecological system. As argued in the previous section, a child might be deprived of his/her human rights or, be discriminated; he/she could be displaced on the consequence of climate change and natural disasters. Where such displacement takes place, ‘the right to family life’[31], ‘the right not to be sexually abused’[32], and ‘exploited’[33], ‘sold or trafficked’[34], ‘right to religion or culture’[35] might be at stake. In conjunction with physical vulnerability, a child might suffer from depression, anxiety, suicide and self-harm in the wake of natural disasters which is also a violation of best interest of child under the convention. For some children, the challenges related to climate change could contribute to an erosion of both their mental capacity and their opportunities for learning and growth
According to Bartlett,
It is far simpler to determine the prevalence of diarrhea or malnutrition than to assess the effects of climate change-related hardship for children’s level of psychological vulnerability or resilience or for their development as competent social beings. Levels of vulnerability and resilience depend not only on children’s health and internal strength, but are also closely tied to household dynamics, to the ways that adults are coping, and to levels of social support. The meanings attached to events are also critical. The way children understand and experience hardship will depend a great deal on local child-rearing practices and expectations, and the experiences they have had in their daily lives [36]
Next to UNCRC, the changing climate signifies that it is very unlikely that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be achieved. Coming on the issue of children’s development, the MDGs and climate change, evidence[37] shows that climate change results-
• Increased child poverty due to reduced incomes and threatened livelihoods (affecting MDG 1: To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger):
Climate change could cause an additional 40,000 to 160,000 child deaths per year in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa through Gross Domestic Product (GDP) losses alone.
• Increased hunger (affecting MDG 1: To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and 4: To reduce child mortality rates):
With temperature increases of 2°C, an additional 30 - 200 million people will be placed at risk of hunger globally rising to as many as 550 million with warming of 3°C.
• Fewer children able to attend school, especially girls (affecting MDG 2: To achieve universal primary education and 3: To promote gender equality and empower women):
The negative impact on livelihoods may make it more likely that parents remove their children from school – and in most cultures this will almost certainly mean removing girls first – so that they can collect water and fuel and supplement household income.
• Increased childhood disease (waterborne/communicable) (MDG 6: To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases and 7: To ensure environmental sustainability):
Malaria: - which already kills 800,000 children every year - is now in areas which were previously outside the range of malarial mosquitoes, such as the highlands of Kenya and Jamaica.
Diarrhoea: Climate change will increase the burden of diarrhoeal disease in low income countries by between 2 and 5 per cent by 2020.
Dengue: Estimates suggest the population at risk could double from 1.5 billion today to 3.5 billion by 2080 due to climate changes.
As with any complex global phenomenon, the effects of this mounting crisis are abstruse and far-reaching. Concerning these challenges of climate change on the realization of child rights in international law, a global partnership for the protection of children from the impacts of environmental changes needs to be developed and maintained. Also initiatives to introduce an optional protocol for establishing individual complaint procedure to the Convention on Rights of Child should be brought in the agenda of the committee with urgent priorities.
What needs to be done?
To respond to climate change issue, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has promoted various mitigation and adaptation strategies to combat climate change. It has produced scientific reports and convened working groups assessing the causes, effects and potential solutions.[38] Mitigation, in short, efforts focus on diminishing atmospheric levels of green house gas by reducing production, for example, by burning less fossil fuel, and aiding removal of carbon dioxide, for example, by reforestation. Recent advances in alternative energy sources such as concentrated solar power and carbon capture technologies are promising. Adaptation measures are aimed at identifying and implementing steps to manage the potential consequences of climate change in any community. Measures range from preventive interventions, like developing drought resistant crops, to long-term planned disaster risk reduction. In addition, a human rights approach to climate change guides not simply the evaluation of the impacts of climate change, but also the distribution of the duties to uphold the human rights threatened by climate change.[39] Thus any international treaty distributing emission right or any national level climate action plan should not jeopardize the human rights to life, heath etc. In compliance with human rights perspective to climate change, the child sensitive adaptation planning should include, climate vulnerability and capacity analysis disaggregated by age, gender, urban and rural, child-centred resilience projects and programmes, child rights-based indicators for monitoring and evaluation and so on
In regard to state obligation under the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, parties shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the convention.[40] State parties would take into consideration the maximum available sources in order to implement these human rights of children. Simultaneously government has three levels of obligations,[41] to respect, protect and fulfill human rights of children in a child rights framework. It elaborates that in realizing the human rights of children, state would ensure the environmental protection. State will not interfere the rights of children i.e., state will not be held liable to contribute to change the climate against the survival of the children. State will take all possible measures, e.g. mobilizing resources so that the rights would be fulfilled. And finally State will provide protection- or at least adequate remedy for human right violation by any actor. Policymakers and donors including the nongovernmental organizations, therefore, who work in country-level climate change response programmes, particularly from the environment, meteorology and finance ministries, are under an obligation to apply a child rights lens when planning for adaptation.[42] Likewise, the CRC reporting mechanisms must require States Parties to consider implications for safeguarding rights in the context of climate change. Embedding child rights in adaptation planning and putting a climate lens on national child rights implementation could increase the resilience of children and their families to shocks and stresses brought about by climate change.[43]
Climate change is adversely affecting the children of today and will jeopardize the futures of tomorrow’s children unless we act now. For problem analysis and policy responses, we need more extensive documentation and available data of the risks actually faced by children and youth, and the factors that have supported their resilience in different situations. In the reporting mechanism of UNCRC, the Committee consistently emphasized the importance for states to have statistical data related to the children’s rights covered by the UNCRC. This certainly applies to data on the effects on children because of climate change
In line with the ‘right to participation’[44] and ‘freedom of expression’[45] in UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, it can be said that Children, in fact as active agent, can play a role to create a lively awareness of the events on climate change around them. For an example, the Children's Climate Forum was organized in 2009 by the U.N. children's agency UNICEF in city of Copenhagen, where consultations among the young delegations, conducted workshops and discussions focusing on local activities to educate and respond to climate change.[46] It has been come out that through broad, international, child-led consultation children are determining the issues they wish to advocate around. Through learning about different experiences of climate impacts on children around the world, and sharing stories of action other children are taking to adapt to climate related changes, children will be able to identify grounded and context specific policy recommendations. Community-based monitoring and advocacy can create opportunities for young people to participate in actions that reduce the incidence of water-related disease and deforestation particularly, as well as clean up degraded community environments and watershed areas to improve living conditions for themselves and their families. Save the children experiences one of their successes when children identify concerns and risks, and participate in rather than be passive recipients of risk reduction strategies; In Cuba and the countries hit by the 2004 tsunami, children have been involved in village-based risk mapping and developing clear and simple printed materials and in Bangladesh, children collected data and contributed to baseline assessments.[47]
Concluding remarks:
Climate change has deeply unpalatable implications on human life. In this context it is necessary to mitigate climate change effects and in long term to prevent climate change all together. Building resilience to climate change is an urgent development priority as well as mitigating greenhouse gas emissions is imperative to limit dangerous climate change in the future. However this is only half of the answer. Urgent and persuasive action has to be taken to adapt to the effects of climate change which are already taking their toll.
In a child rights based approach to development, the development actors including, states, non state actors, aid agencies are committed to come up with child centered policies and programs to protect the best interest of child. The world's children have contributed least to the causes of climate change but are the worst affected by it. As a primary duty bearer, the state have the obligation to integrate climate change into national child rights agendas. According to Giddens, in addressing climate change, state must keep climate change at the top of the political agenda, promote political and economic convergence and develop an appropriate economic and fiscal framework for moving towards a low carbon economy.[48] For an effective adaptation to climate, moreover, government must secure better governance – the capacity of government institutions, the state’s efficiency in providing basic services, and the influence of regional and international cooperation. For children’s participation to be ethical the children must first have an interest in and understanding of the implications of the global-level decisions being made, and of the potential impacts decisions can have on their lives. It is also crucial that child participants are briefed about the issues, and the events they will participate in, in a way they can fully comprehend. Governments and civil society in this connection should establish and support lasting, child-friendly dialogues on climate change between children’s groups and adult actors in the climate change context.
[1] Bartlett, Sheridan., ‘The Implications of Climate Change for Children in Lower-Income Countries’ (2008)
Children, Youth and Environments 18(1), 89
[2] Barnett, Jon., ‘Climate change, Insecurity and Injustice’ in Adger et al.(ed), Fairness in Adaptation to Climate Change(The MIT Press: 2006, London) 115
[3] Polack, Emily., ‘Child rights and Climate change Adaption: Voices from Kenya and Cambodia’ (2010) London, Children in a Changing Climate. 4
[4] Arts, Karin., ‘A Child rights Perspective on Climate Change’ in M.A. S. Mohammad.(ed.), Climate Change and Sustainable Development: New Challenges for Poverty Reduction(Edward Elgar Publishing Limited: 2009, UK)79
[5] Pathak,R.S., ‘The Human rights System as a Conceptual Framework for Environmental Law’ in E.B.Weiss(ed.), Environmental Change and International Law: New Challenges and Dimensions (UN University Press, 1992, Tokyo )209
[6] UDHR, 1948, article 25(1)
[7] ICESCR, 1966, article 12(2)(b)
[8] ICESCR, 1966, article 12(1)
[9] Stockholm World Conference Declaration,1972, Principle 1
[10] See Arts, above n. 4 at 81
[11] Giorgetta, Sueli,. ‘The Right to a Healthy Environment’ in N. Schrijver and F. Eeiss (eds.), International Law and Sustainable Development: Principles and Practice(Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2004, Leiden) 385
[12] Convention of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 1981, Article 24
[13] San Salvador Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights, 1988,Article 11
[14] UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1997, article 3(1)
[15] See Arts, above n. 4 at 82
[16] UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007, article 29
[17] Powel vs. United Kingdom, (1990) 172 Eur. Ct. H.R. (ser. A) 5
[18] Oposa vs. Factoran, G.R. No. 101083, July 30, 1993
[19] Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons – ICJ Advisory Opinion of 8 July 1996 - General List No. 95 (1995-1998) para 29
[20] Save the Children, ‘Legacy of Disasters: The Impact of Climate change on Children’ (2007), 4-7, at http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/docs/legacy_of_disasters.pdf (last visited 12 September 2011).
[21] UNICEF UK, ‘Our climate, Our children, Our Responsibility: The Implications of Climate Change for the World’s Children’, UNICEF UK Climate Change Report 2008,London, 2
[22] UNICEF ‘The State of the World’s Children’.2007, New York: United Nations Children’s Fund.
[23] See Save the Children, above n. 20 at 8
[24] See Arts, above n. 4 at 86
[25] Aminzadeh, Sara C., ‘A Moral Imperative: The Human Rights Implications on Climate Change’ (2007) Hastings International and Comparative Law Review 30(2),246-248
[26] United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November1989, article 6(1)
[27] Ibid, article 6(2)
[28] Ibid, article 8(1)
[29] Ibid, article 29 (1) (b)
[30] See Arts, above n. 4 at 88
[31] See UNCRC, above n. 26, articles 8-10
[32] See UNCRC, above n. 26, article 19
[33] See UNCRC, above n. 26, articles 32,34
[34] See UNCRC, above n. 26, article 35
[35] See UNCRC, above n. 26, article 30
[36] See Bartlett, above n. 1, 82
[37] See UNICEF, above n. 21 at 8-13
[38] Vasudevan, Chakrapani., and Seal, Arnab., ‘Climate Change and Child Health’. ADC Online First, at http://adc.bmj.com/content/early/2011/02/20/adc.2010.186213.full.pdf (last visited: 20 September, 2011)
[39] Caney, Simon., ‘Climate Change, Human Rights and Moral thresholds’ in S. Humphreys(ed.), Human Rights and Climate Change (Cambridge University Press: 2010, Cambridge) 89
[40] See UNCRC, above n. 26, article 4
[41] Marks, Susan,. and Clapham ,Andrew,. International Human Rights Lexicon, ‘Development’ (Oxford University Press,2004, Oxford), 98
[42] See Emily, above n.3 at 36
[43] Ibid. at 36
[44] See UNCRC, above n. 26, article 12
[45] See UNCRC, above n. 26, articles 13-14
[46] Leahy, Stephen., ‘Youth See Their Future in the Balance’ Inter Press Service, Sunday, September 18, 2011
[47] See Save the Children, above n.20 at 12
[48] Giddens, Anthony., ‘The Politics of Climate Change’ (Polity Press, Cambridge, 2009), 92-93
