The Right to a Healthy Environment in the Convention on the Rights of the Child

This written submission by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) urges the Committee on the Rights of the Child to formally articulate the right of the child to a healthy environment as an implied right within the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The document argues that such a recognition is necessary to clarify State responsibilities and ensure the effective realization of children's rights in the face of global environmental crises.

• CIEL argues that the Committee on the Rights of the Child should recognize the right to a healthy environment as an implied right to clarify State responsibilities to "prevent, and protect against, environmental harms that impact children’s rights."
• The document asserts that human rights bodies frequently recognize implied rights to ensure that guarantees are "real, practical and effective" and to address "new threats or changing circumstances."
• The submission highlights that over 140 States have included environmental rights in their national constitutions, which CIEL claims is "legally significant in the evolving interpretation of the explicit and implied rights in the Convention."
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child contains explicit references to environmental protection in Articles 24 and 29, which relate to child health and education respectively.
• The child's right to life, survival, and development is described as having a direct and indivisible link to a healthy environment, requiring the control of activities like exposure to heavy metals such as lead or mercury. The World Health Organization estimates that childhood lead exposure contributes to approximately 600,000 new cases of intellectual disabilities annually.
• The right to health is linked to the environment through Article 24(2)(c), which requires states to consider "the dangers and risks of environmental pollution" when addressing malnutrition and disease. This includes regulating toxic substances in products such as textiles, paints, toys, and food containers.
• The realization of the rights to food, water, and sanitation depends on a healthy environment. This includes the need for "agro ecology solutions" to restore soils and the requirement that water be free from substances that threaten a child's health.
• The right to an adequate standard of living and the implied right to housing are linked to environmental health. For example, the Committee on the Rights of the Child noted that in Pakistan, air pollution and a lack of clean water and sanitation have a "serious negative impact on the living conditions of children."

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2016). The Right to a Healthy Environment in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CRC-Submission-RtE-23-AUG-2016.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. The Right to a Healthy Environment in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 2016. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CRC-Submission-RtE-23-AUG-2016.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=The Right to a Healthy Environment in the Convention on the Rights of the Child |date=August 2016 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CRC-Submission-RtE-23-AUG-2016.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2016right, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{The Right to a Healthy Environment in the Convention on the Rights of the Child}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2016}, month = aug, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CRC-Submission-RtE-23-AUG-2016.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }