As part of the inaugural Children and Youth Pavilion at COP27, children and youth representatives, organisations that work closely with youth, and experts engaged in inter-generational learning about climate change mitigation and adaptation through nature-based solutions and their implications for human rights and climate finance. The event explored what lessons can be learned from nature-based solutions in promoting and protecting children’s and youth’s human rights as attention on ocean-based climate action grows.

Background

On 16^th November 2022 the Hub co-organised the event titled “Advancing human rights standards in nature-based solutions: lessons from land to sea” at the first ever Children and Youth Pavilion at UN Climate Conference of the Parties (COP). The hybrid event at the COP27 Children and Youth Pavilion brought together children and youth representatives, organisations that work closely with youth, and experts.

The event focused on biodiversity finance and the ocean-climate-human rights nexus. It provided a platform to hear and young voices on climate change mitigation and adaptation with nature-based solutions and enabled inter-generational learning on human rights and climate finance. The event explored what lessons can be learned from nature-based solutions in promoting and protecting children’s and youth rights as attention on ocean-based climate action grows. It was designed to meet three objectives, namely to:

Highlight the nexus between the ocean, climate change, biodiversity and human rights;     

• Explore how children’s human rights can be promoted and protected when implementing nature-based climate solutions in the marine environment; and
• Clarify how we can respect human rights standards in ocean-based climate solutions, by learning lessons from land-based climate action.

This blog post summarised key messages on: youth leadership; challenges to youth-led climate action; and approaches to protect human rights in nature-based solutions to climate change.

Youth leadership

Children from South Africa, Ghana, Greenland, and Samoa spoke about what they deemed as the most important priorities to address the challenges posed by climate change and why leadership and empowerment of young people are so important for tackling these challenges. They highlighted the need to:

• provide leadership opportunities to young people, who are already outspoken and have experiences of climate change, including to contribute to a future generation of scientists;

• Address the negative impacts of climate change such as tidal waves, severe flooding, melting of glaciers, sea level rise, and cyclones on children and young people. In Ghana, tidal waves have resulted in flooded homes, reduced standard of living, transmission of waterborne diseases such as cholera, and children not being able to go to school as education structures, materials and equipment are ruined;

• Include children, particularly girls, in decision-making processes on climate change, and listen to unique, innovative and valuable solutions to solve such problems that children can provide; and

• address both the negative impacts of climate change on culture and on nature, as the destruction of nature caused by climate change impacts on people’s emotional and cultural bonds with nature.

The panellists also referred to the forthcoming General Comment No. 26 on children’s rights and a healthy environment , with a focus on climate change, of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – which will provide international guidance on how children’s rights are impacted by the triple environmental crises and what governments must do to uphold these rights.

Challenges to youth-led climate action

Representatives of youth and organisations that work closely with youth such as Oceanic Global, Peace Boat, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, and Global Youth Biodiversity Network shared their experiences of youth climate advocacy work and the major challenges to youth climate action. They stressed that:

• It is important for policy makers not only to hear youth’s views, but also to integrate them into governance;
• the difficulties to gain accreditation, the economic costs of participation, and the lack of technical assistance and capacity-building for youth to engage effectively as observers or negotiators hinder youth to participate in decision making process, such as COP27. Decision makers need to understand barriers that youth face to improve participation of youth in key ocean-climate decision making spaces.
• Youth are fighting to reverse the impacts of climate change and to mainstream rights-based approaches, to ensure that children and youth vulnerabilities to climate change are recognised.

• It is important to fund research in the Global South, particularly research carried out by young researchers to inform future climate change action.

• Fighting for climate justice and equity is an intergenerational effort: it is critical to acknowledge existing work and ancient wisdom while uplifting and empowering the next generation. Every generation will need to renew their commitment to live in a just and harmonious society, this is not a problem we can solve in the next 6 years and be “done”. With a long-term view of action, it is so important to find rest and lean on each other along the way, so we can all sustain this needed work.

Respecting human rights in climate finance

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Environment and Human Rights, David Boyd, and experts from the One Ocean Hub, Sciences Po, and Grantham Research Institute, LSE explored approaches needed to ensure protection of human rights in climate/biodiversity finance. They underscored that:

• There is a multibillion-dollar gap in addressing the global environment and biodiversity crises. This gap is disproportionately affecting people living in climate-vulnerable countries such as the Small Islands Developing States and lower-income countries, and marginalised groups such as children and youth;
• Climate finance is needed to harness bioenergy and preserve biodiversity hotspots in the world;
• There are multiple sources of funding that should and must be used. Examples include redirecting USD 1.8 trillion funding that harm nature to activities that restore ecosystems, implementing pollution taxes, and ensuring wealthy nations fulfil their official development assistance commitments;
• Allocating climate finance must follow human rights principles and advance the fulfilment of everyone’s human right to a healthy environment. For example, no marine protected area should be established without the free prior informed consent of Indigenous Peoples.

List of panellists

Mitchell Lennan, One Ocean Hub

Mara Ghilan, Global Alliance of Universities on Climate

Alutha from South Africa supported by Ms Mia Strand, Nelson Mandela University and Nozipiwo Hambaze, SAEON. 

Camila from Ghana supported by Dr Bolanle Erinosho, University of Cape Coast, Dr Harrison Golo, University of Education and Dr Ibrahim Sulley, Conflict Research Network West Africa – Ghana Office.

Maya-Natuk, Child Advisor to UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Greenland, supported by Katie Reid, terre des hommes.

Āniva, Child Advisor to UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Samoa, supported by Katie Reid, terre des hommes.

Sudha Kottillil, Global Youth Biodiversity Network.

Mark Haver, Sustainable Ocean Alliance.

Cassia Patel, Oceanic Global.

Emilie McGlone, Peace Boat.

Kayleigh Murray, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

Dr Bernadette Snow, One Ocean Hub.

Dr David Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on the Environment and Human Rights.

Arimiyaw Saasi, Sciences Po.

Nick Robins, Professor in Practice for Sustainable Finance, Grantham Research Institute, LSE.