COP28: A COP for Children - World leaders and negotiators urged to centre children in decisions
COP28: A COP for Children - World leaders and negotiators urged to centre children in decisions
As the world gathers for COP28, Terre des Hommes emphasises children’s vital contribution to addressing climate change, and insists that their voices and rights be placed at the forefront of global decision-making.
COP28 is taking place in a milestone year when children’s rights to a clean and healthy environment and safe climate, has been explicitly affirmed by the United Nations. Terre des Hommes International Federation urges States to commit to decisive climate action aligned with their child rights obligations and informed by children’s views and perspectives.
In August, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child issued “General Comment No.26 on children’s rights and the environment with a special focus on climate change” – a groundbreaking interpretation of all 196 Member States’ obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This comprehensive guidance assists in interpreting States’ commitment under the Paris Agreement to respect, promote and consider their child rights obligations when taking action to address climate change. It specifies the responsibility of States not only to protect children from immediate harm but also to prevent foreseeable violations of their rights in the future, also emphasising the impact of climate-related loss and damage on children.
The general comment was developed with 12 child advisors and reflects the views and perspectives of 16,331 children from 121 countries who participated in consultations designed by Terre des Hommes.
In her contribution to the consultations, a 17-year-old girl from Croatia declared, “Adults should stop making decisions for the future they won’t experience. We are the key means to solving climate change as it is our lives at stake.”
As Valerie Ceccherini, Secretary General of Terre des Hommes International Federation said: “Children’s lives and their futures cannot be separated from the environment: they are inextricably linked. What happens to the environment affects children and disproportionately so, with children more vulnerable than adults to environmental risks and bearing the brunt of the climate crisis. Millions of children are experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change across their communities. The time to act, to prioritise children and to protect children’s futures is now.”
Thousands of children have articulated their key requests through extensive consultations for General Comment No. 26:
- A clean, healthy and sustainable environment for current and future generations
- Bold, urgent action from governments, businesses, and adults in general
- Stronger, effective international cooperation
- For adults to listen to children and take them seriously
- More accessible information and education on the environment and climate change
- For children to be protected and supported when taking climate action and accessing justice
Three of the remarkable children who advised the General Comment 26 process supported by Terre des Hommes will participate in COP28 to share their insights and recommendations and those of many other children affected by the climate crisis.
Terre des Hommes calls on all leaders and negotiators at COP28 to collectively commit to safeguard the rights and future of children and the planet and:
- Put children and their rights at the heart of decision-making processes and commitments. Acknowledge the effects of climate change on children and make decisions that are sensitive to children’s needs and rights.
- Give children a seat at the table in climate decision-making processes on an ongoing basis – at global level as well as local, national and regional levels. Systematically work with children as partners, so that they can share their perspectives, needs and recommendations and inform negotiations on climate action. COP can learn from the GC26 child-centred process led by Terre des Hommes and ensure that participation mechanisms and safe spaces are in place.
COP28 must serve as an alarm call – it is time to define a global response to the climate crisis that upholds children’s right to grow up in a clean, healthy, and safe environment.
As Esmeralda, a #GC26 Child Advisor aged 16 from Peru, explained: “We have to commit ourselves to our environment. Our voices must be heard. They [States] must know that we are here, and we are not going to stop.”
Picture ©Tdh/Jan Schneider
Pledge for children this World Refugee Day
Pledge for children this World Refugee Day
This World Refugee Day, Terre des Hommes, co-chair and member of the multi-stakeholder Initiative for Child Rights in the Global Compacts (the Initiative), is calling on governments to do more for refugee children so they can live their childhoods with access to all their rights as children and have a bright future ahead of them.
Almost half of the world’s refugees are children, yet their needs are often overlooked, poorly understood, and insufficiently met.
Too often, measures to support refugees or respond to refugee situations do not take into consideration the distinct needs of children in all their diversity.
The 2023 Global Refugee Forum is a timely opportunity for governments to make commitments with and for children to ensure that the rights of refugee and displaced children are upheld.
This will be the second such meeting which takes place every 4 years during which governments and other stakeholders review progress and plans for implementing the Global Compact on Refugees.
The Initiative has developed a framework for a pledge for children – it is a framework to inspire and unite governments and organisations working with refugees to make unique but complementary commitments for the inclusion, protection and empowerment of refugee children.
The Global Compact on Refugees contains many important and positive provisions for children. If these are put into action, it will make a real and tangible difference to the lives of refugee and displaced children and young people and host communities.
Partnering with children, supporting them to meaningfully participate, and providing a safe space for them to contribute and inform policies and practices is not only essential to uphold children’s right to participate – it will also lead to more effective and sustainable interventions.
It is time to act and put children at the heart of refugee responses. Join us and call on governments to pledge to partner with children to support refugee children as children first and foremost, and to meet their needs holistically.
Would you like to know more about the Global Compact on Refugees?
Explore Destination Unknown’s Guide on child rights and the refugee and migration compact
Check out the Initiative’s youth-friendly guide to the refugee and migration compacts
Picture ©Tdh/Marie-Lou Dumauthioz
Every Second Counts
Every Second Counts: European-wide petition demands the EU tackles child abuse on the internet and makes the internet safe for children everywhere
On International Children’s Day and the United Nations International Day of the Parent, a coalition of child abuse survivor groups, child protection organisations and parents associations are coming together to demand the EU leaders protect children from online sexual harm.
The coalition is launching a campaign that brings voices and experiences of survivors, safeguarders and supporters calling on citizens of Europe to sign a petition that demands law makers to pass the European Commission’s proposal to prevent and combat child sexual abuse. The campaign, Every Second Counts, stems from the notion that every second two images of a child being sexually abused is shared online.
The legislation, if passed, would be the first of its kind at this scale, providing a template for a global response to an issue that is growing at an alarming rate.
Recent data published by the Internet Watch Foundation about the extent of this crime against children of all ages has greatly increased year on year. More images and videos involving the most heinous sexual abuse were found online in 2022 than ever before. Sickeningly over 80% of URLs containing sexual abuse of children aged 0-2 contained this category of material. They also found that commercial pages exploiting sexual abuse of children have doubled since 2020. As in previous years, the majority of global reports of child sexual abuse material is hosted in an EU Member State.
The petition was launched by the Justice Initiative, a collection of 150 survivor focused organisations from across 13 European countries and is also supported by the Child Safety On campaign, a coalition of child protection organisations spanning Europe.
Children are spending more and more time online through all manner of devices and platforms; the proposal looks to protect children wherever they are so they can live, learn, and thrive in their digital worlds without the threat of online child sexual abuse.
The time to act is now. Every second counts.
EU forced Labour Regulation: EU Council must focus on remediation for victims
EU forced Labour Regulation: EU Council must focus on remediation for victims
Terre des Hommes and its partners, including civil society organisations and trade unions, share concerns about the slow pace of engagement at the European Union (EU) Council level on a proposed EU Forced Labour Regulation.
With the European Parliament actively defining its own position, during the upcoming Spanish Presidency, the EU Council must open avenues for concrete discussions amongst Member States to agree on a general approach that would centre the regulation around remediation of forced labour.
The proposed regulation should help EU companies to meaningfully address forced labour in their value chains, both inside and outside the EU. But the draft Regulation published by the European Commission falls short of attaining this objective. The following serious gaps should be addressed:
- Forged as a product-based legislation, it does not provide remediation to workers who have experienced forced labour.
- Targeting product lines alone is a narrow and flawed approach to tackling forced labour. The underlying systemic causes of forced labour are not isolated to product lines within a production site.
- While foreseeing some transparency requirements, it does not require sufficient transparency and traceability, including when it comes to raw materials.
- It fails to sufficiently clarify the responsibility of buyers to conduct robust due diligence, in particular in relation to: fair purchasing practices; the need for living wages; support for remediation; and responsible disengagement. It also lacks provisions to discourage buyers from ‘cutting and running’ after identifying forced labour in their supply chains.
- It offers no concrete protections for whistle-blowers and human rights defenders, including requiring companies to refrain from using strategic lawsuits to silence journalists, workers, or non-governmental organisations that file complaints of forced labour.
Read the full letter to the Spanish EU Presidency from Terre des Hommes and partners.