UN Child Rights Committee Rules That Countries Bear Cross-Border Responsibility For Harmful Impact of Climate Change

UN Child Rights Committee Rules That Countries Bear Cross-Border Responsibility For Harmful Impact of Climate Change
Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

Alessandro Di Pietrantonio

International Justice and Human Rights

Global Human Rights Defencehor:

The Child Rights Committee (CRC)  has found that a State party can be held responsible for the negative impact of its carbon emissions on the rights of children both within and outside its territory. The Committee examined a petition filed by 16 children from 12 countries against Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Turkey in 2019. The children claimed that these five countries, which were historic emitters and had recognised the competence of the Committee to receive petitions, had failed to take necessary preventive measures to protect and fulfil children’s rights to life, health, and culture. The children also argued that the climate crisis is not an abstract future threat and that the 1.1°C increase in global average temperature since pre-industrial times has already caused devastating results, and they claimed they were among the most affected by these life-threatening impacts, both mentally and physically. The Committee determined that Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Turkey had effective control over the activities that are the sources of emissions that contribute to the reasonably foreseeable harm to children outside their territories. It concluded that a sufficient causal link had been established between the harm alleged by the 16 children and the acts or omissions of the five States to establish jurisdiction and that the children had sufficiently justified that the harm that they had personally suffered was significant.

For further information and source:

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=27644&LangID=E