States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change: CRC

The report outlines how the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) interprets the 1989 CRC Convention to protect children from climate change. It highlights that while the Convention implicitly protects rights to life, health, and education, the Committee has explicitly urged States to place children's health at the center of climate strategies and to ensure children's participation in decision-making. The document analyzes 24 Concluding Observations from the past decade, noting a trend of recommendations directed toward climate-vulnerable developing countries, focusing on adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and the integration of child-sensitive strategies into national plans.

• The CRC Convention contains both implicit and explicit environmental protections; while rights to life, health, and education are implicitly related, article 24(2) explicitly requires States to consider "the dangers and risks of environmental pollution" and article 29(1) requires "the development of respect for the natural environment".
• The Committee on the Rights of the Child has emphasized that climate change is a primary threat to children's health, stating that States should "put children’s health concerns at the centre of their climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies."
• The CRC recommends that States recognize children as stakeholders with a right to be heard in UNFCCC decision-making and involve them in the design of projects concerning disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation and mitigation.
• The Committee has asserted that protecting children's rights against global climate change necessitates "urgent and aggressive reductions in greenhouse gases, guided by the best available science."
• In its State reporting procedure, the CRC addressed climate-related issues in 24 Concluding Observations over the last ten years, primarily targeting developing countries most vulnerable to climate impacts.
• The CRC has not yet evaluated the extent to which the CRC Convention's obligations require States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions specifically to prevent adverse impacts on children's rights.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change: CRC. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/HRTBs-synthesis-report-CRC.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change: CRC. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/HRTBs-synthesis-report-CRC.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change: CRC |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/HRTBs-synthesis-report-CRC.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndstates, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change: CRC}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/HRTBs-synthesis-report-CRC.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }