Unhealthy environments (e.g. polluted air, water and other natural resources, depleted forests, overuse of groundwater) threaten the lives of billions of people, including children and of future generations. Extreme weather events caused by unhealthy environments result to hazards (e.g. tropical storms, tornadoes, flash floods, droughts, and heatwaves) that in turn make people, especially children, more vulnerable to climate-related risks (e.g. water and food scarcity, flooding, infectious diseases, psychological problems).
As the United Nations Human Rights Council declared access to a healthy environment as a fundamental human right, governments, private companies, and other stakeholders must do their part to empower and protect the current and future generations from the impacts of unhealthy environments.
In recent years, regional and global youth movements have shown how young people are already stepping up. Join us now in setting up a safer and healthier future for children!
Unhealthy environments have many negative effects that cannot be undone to children and future generations.
These negative effects include:
- Children and adolescents are among groups likely to experience mental health problems due to worries about their future and the natural environment.
- Extreme changes in climate continue to cause food and water scarcity which in turn make things even more difficult for many children in poor families to get the proper nutrition and sanitation they need to have a healthy life.
- Children and pregnant women are among groups particularly affected by malnutrition due to sudden losses in food production.
- If diseases caused by unhealthy environments are not prevented, there will be many
- babies who are likely to die at birth.
- When pregnant women are exposed to unhealthy environments and climate change events (e.g. heatwaves, flooding, heavy storms), they are likely to give birth before their babies have fully developed inside their wombs. And babies born this way survive a birth, they are likely to suffer many health problems in their lifetime.
Their voice matters. Children themselves can take part in efforts to advance their rights in the community, national, and global levels. How?
- LEARN – At this day and age, children can access different modes of learning – including books, publications, and other online interventions – that can educate them on their right to a healthy environment. At the same time, children can also ask questions from their parents, teachers, and other guardians to educate themselves further on the topic.
- TALK – Through interpersonal communication – may it be face-to-face or digital – children can talk to their peers and even adults about their right to a healthy environment, and what they can do on their own to help protect our natural resources.
- PLAY – A lot of activities, even environment-friendly interventions, can be fun and enjoyable. Children can engage in these activities to help the environment and at the same time, bond with their families and friends. They can also inform their peers and adults that children have the right to safer places to play which can help with their growth and development.
- ADVOCATE – Children can encourage their parents, friends, teachers, and even community leaders to be more involved in making decisions for their right to a healthy environment. Also, they can monitor environmental impacts in their respective areas and report this, as well as any kind of injustice and disrespect, to the proper authorities.
- JOIN – Children and young people can help mobilize their peers in the community and engage in activities that can help protect the environment. At the same time, they can get involved in existing youth groups at the national, regional, and local levels.
The United Nations is also calling on children around the world to join the global online consultations or the General Comment on Children’s Rights and the Environment with a Special Focus on Climate Change General Comment 26) which will hold governments accountable to establish a healthy environment for children today and in the future. Learn more about the General Comment 26 here.
Climate science clearly shows that children and future generations are among most affected by the impacts of climate change. Many of these negative effects continue to threaten the lives of millions of children and youth in the ASEAN alone.
Children in ASEAN and the whole world want to live and grow in a healthy environment. And I join them in calling for the adoption of the following Principles and Policy Guidance for Children’s Rights to a Healthy Environment in the ASEAN region.
The Principles
- All children have the right to live and grow up in a healthy environment.
- All children have the right to share their views and to participate in making decisions that affect children and their right to a healthy environment.
- All children have the right to get information for living in a healthy environment in the language that they understand and in ways that are interesting to them.
- All children have the right to learn about the environment and how to protect it.
- All children have the right to play safely outdoors in a healthy environment
- All children have the right to be protected from all the kinds of harm caused by climate change, pollution and the loss of plants, animals, and other natural resources.
The Policy Guidance
I strongly recommend for you and other government officials to make:
- laws and rules that respect these Principles, including rules for businesses
- sure children are allowed relevant information they can understand
- sure children participate in making decisions
- sure schools provide education on the environment and its importance to all children and different communities
- resources available to make all actions to protect children’s rights to a healthy environment possible
The time to act is now. The children and future generations in ASEAN and the whole world deserve a healthy and safe environment to develop their full potential.