Posted on 06 September 2023
Last week, the Committee on the Rights of the Child released a new guidance in form of a General Comment, which has “affirmed children’s right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.” It has both identified the risk climate change poses for children, and says that countries should be accountable for ensuring children's rights are protected in the future.
Aniva Clarke, a 17-year-old Samoan climate activist living in New Zealand, is a member of the Children’s Advisory Team who supported this consultation process. In a recent interview, she expresses the General Comment will be hugely significant, saying it “will enforce these governments to recognise that not having a healthy environment is compromising the future of young people, and therefore is encouraging them to protect the environment before its too late.”
Listen to the full audio of her interview here