CERI works to place children’s rights at the centre of climate change decision-making and action.
Children represent almost one-third of the world’s population, and are disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to a range of physiological and developmental factors.
At the same time, the activism of children and young people has fundamentally transformed the environmental movement, and brought urgently-needed political attention to the crisis.
Despite this, climate policies, action and finance rarely consider children, and children and young people’s voices are consistently left out of key processes and decision-making fora at all levels.
Through the Paris Agreement, Parties agreed that States should, when taking climate action, respect, promote and consider, inter alia, the rights of children, as well as the principle of intergenerational equity.
Declaration on Children, Youth and Climate Action
CERI, UNICEF and YOUNGO are the joint custodians of a groundbreaking commitment by States to accelerate inclusive, child and youth-sensitive climate policies and action at national and global levels. We work closely with governments to support the implementation of its commitments.
Strategic Advocacy
An unprecedented collaboration by CERI and the wider child rights sector is identifying entry points and pushing for recognition of children’s rights within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
This includes a position paper endorsed by over 25 organizations was launched ahead of COP27, setting out the importance of incorporating children’s rights in climate action and avenues for doing so.
Climate Finance
In 2009, developed countries committed to mobilise $100 billion a year in international climate finance by 2020 to assist developing countries to tackle climate change. This commitment remains unmet, while estimations of finance required far exceed this figure. Urgent investment in mitigation is required to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to safe levels, and to enhance adaptation for children and communities that are already experiencing unprecedented impacts. CERI partners are collaborating on a study to map the degree to which projects under the multilateral climate funds are child-sensitive, and to provide recommendations to decision-makers on how climate finance can better contribute to the promotion of children’s rights.
