Towards a healthy planet: Implementing the right to a clean, healthy and toxic-free environment

Climate and environmental crisis cause devastating impacts on the well-being and future of our children. Environmental hazards take 1,7 million children’s lives each year, make them leave their homes and suffer from diseases, early marriage, exploitive labour and miss out on education. We must protect children’s rights for a clean environment to save lives.
According to the historic resolution of UN-General Assembly in July 2022, access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a universal human right. In 2023 the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child will publish its General Comment no. 26 on Children’s Rights and the Environment with a Special Focus on Climate Change.
In anticipation of this publication, we discussed the UN initiatives which aim to advance the protection of children’s rights for a clean environment, their impacts and perspectives at the webinar “Towards a healthy planet: Implementing the right to a clean, healthy and toxic-free environment”. In our series Forward Thinkers webinars we deepen our intergenerational dialogue and also address the nexus of peace and hazardous chemicals.
Speaker:
Alexandra Wandel, Chair, Management Board, World Future Council
Alyn Ware, Councillor, World Future Council, PNND Global Coordinator
María Fernanda Espinosa-Garces, Councillor, World Future Council, Former President of the UN-General Assembly, Executive Director of GWL Voices
Neshan Gunasekera, Councillor, World Future Council, International Lawyer and Educationist
Bea Albermann, Youth:Present Representative, medical doctor, planetary health advocate and environmental justice activist
Raina Ivanova, Youth:Present Representative, Climate and Child Rights advocate
Moderator: Jeffrey Opoku, Youth:Present representative, Youth Sustainability Leader