Catarina of Brazil (left) and Francisco of Colombia (right) call for a UN COP on children’s rights during a UNICEF press conference on youth action on climate change at COP29 in Baku. COP29: Young activists demand UN children’s climate conference Climate and Environment
Don’t make decisions about our lives without us! Today, the Climate Conference in Baku heard the voices of children and young people – representatives of the younger generation demanded to protect them from the consequences of climate change, prevent further destruction of the planet and preserve nature. They asked for a place at the climate negotiating table and for a separate, children’s UN Climate Conference.
Topics of the day at COP29 today – development, children and youth, health and education. These issues are linked to climate change, which directly affects the well-being of a billion children, that is, half of the world’s child population. Air pollution, infectious diseases, environmental degradation and extreme weather events affect the health of the planet’s young inhabitants, hinder their education, deprive them of the opportunity to receive the nutrition they need to develop.
Children are particularly vulnerable to climate change, the UN Children’s Fund confirms. They risk dehydration in hot weather because their bodies cannot regulate their temperature. Floods and droughts push families into poverty, and once again children suffer. “When floods hit, schools in Liberia are forced to close and children cannot learn,” Juanita Tamba of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, the world’s largest volunteer movement for the empowerment of girls and young women, told UN News.
“And during the dry season, they have to travel long distances to fetch water, and girls often suffer violence in such situations,” she added. According to UNICEF estimates, about 40 million children miss school each year due to climate change-related disasters, and this figure continues to rise.
Zunaira from Pakistan is one of the youngest participants in the UN Climate Change Conference in Baku. She goes to school and came to COP29 with the support of UNICEF. “When floods happen in my country, resources are limited, there are not enough for everyone. Children, especially girls, suffer the most,” says Zuanira.
Speaking at a press conference organised by UNICEF at COP29, Rasul from Azerbaijan drew attention to the dangers facing the Caspian Sea. “The water level in our beautiful body of water is falling due to rising temperatures and long periods of heat,” he said. According to Rasul, the shallowing of the Caspian Sea is affecting the well-being of the population of Azerbaijan, which is already suffering from rising temperatures: “Both summer and winter are getting warmer in Azerbaijan.”
Both summer and winter are getting warmer in Azerbaijan
16-year-old eco-activist Katarina came to Baku from Salvador, a Brazilian city located on the Atlantic coast. The girl has been interested in surfing since an early age. “I first noticed the ocean warming and changing when I was nine years old,” Katarina said. “The water was much warmer than it used to be, and there were white spots everywhere, which was coral bleaching.”
Despite her young age, Katharina has years of fighting for the environment. When she was 12, she and other children filed a complaint with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to protest government inaction on the climate crisis. “With our petition, the United Nations has recognized that climate change violates children’s rights,” Katharina said in her emotional speech. “And today we confirm this. We need space to defend our rights. We need a children’s Climate Conference!”
According to her, when she grows up and is able to hold an important position to make a real difference, the time for effective action may have passed. “We don’t have time! We need to act today, right now!” Katharina said.
UNICEF Executive Director Katerina Russell agrees with the activist. “At COP29 and through their Nationally Determined Contributions, governments must prioritize children’s rights,” she said, addressing the participants of the Conference in Baku. “Children must be involved in finding solutions, and world leaders must work to make health, education, water and sanitation – the systems on which children’s well-being depends – more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Now is the time to act.”
Next year, countries must submit their updated plans to combat climate change, which are officially called “Nationally Determined Contributions.” This is a requirement of the Paris Agreement on climate change. UNICEF warns that less than half of the plans previously submitted included children and youth issues, and only three countries involved children in the work on these documents, and calls for the rights of the planet’s young inhabitants to be taken into account when drawing up updated plans.
16-year-old Payton Esau from Canada brought a manifesto to the Climate Conference, which was signed by 800 of her peers. “We demand that we be spoken to in our language, so that young people can understand what measures are being taken to combat climate change. Governments must act now to keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” Payton told UN News Service.
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