We’re pleased to announce that youth climate organisers have joined CRIN as Advisers on our work on environmental issues. This is the first time we’ll be collaborating with under-18s in this way, but the playing field is an equal and democratic one and we’re holding ourselves accountable to them.

That the climate crisis is heading towards irreversible climate breakdown and that it’s today’s and tomorrow’s generations who have the most to lose is nothing new. The impact of a hotter climate, pollution, environmental degradation and resource depletion profoundly affect everyone’s quality of life, and this includes the full range of human rights of children and young people: their right to life, survival and development, health and an adequate standard of living. Challenging the policies that led to the climate crisis in the first place are today’s global youth who are at the forefront of climate activism and behind one of the biggest grassroots movements in recent history. 

What’s striking therefore is that under-18s continue to be systematically left out of legal and policy discussions and organisational decisions, while the particular health vulnerabilities of their younger bodies and any consideration of current and future generations are usually ignored. 

At CRIN, our work on environment-related issues so far has included highlighting the need to challenge the root causes of the climate crisis, promoting environmental lawsuits and defending youth activists’ right to protest. But these were all decisions we made ourselves without direct influence by youth climate activists themselves. This realisation has prompted a much-needed change at CRIN.  

Practising what we preach

In The CRIN Code, which sets out our principles, we assert that the planet is not ours to do with as we wish, and that it’s our responsibility to act as custodians and preserve the planet so that current and future generations can enjoy it. We also say that we will systematically involve in our work those whose rights we defend and to challenge the mentalities that deny under-18s the chance to speak up and represent themselves in their own words. So we invited youth climate organisers around the world to help shape CRIN’s strategy on environmental issues for the next few years. We’ve gathered a team of 14 advisers between the ages of 9-18 from different regions, backgrounds, experiences and who campaign on different environmental issues.  

However, we’re not calling them Youth Advisers or Youth Climate Advisers. We don’t call our board members Adult Board Members, so how can we justify treating under-18s differently? Instead, we’re simply calling them Advisers, as we would anyone else who we consult with. Their role? To help us decide how CRIN can support, amplify and complement the activism of the young people who are leading by example. 

I want to show the world that we, as black youth from Cape Town's under-resourced communities and townships, do care about the climate - because we are the ones that get affected the most.

~ Yola, South Africa

I want to show the world that we, as black youth from Cape Town's under-resourced communities and townships, do care about the climate - because we are the ones that get affected the most.

~ Aniva, Samoa

We are all change-makers and must not wait for others to take action. This is the impact and power of the digital age we live in. By inspiring each other and challenging our boundaries, adults and children will jointly find solutions to achieve climate justice.

~ Sagarika, United Arab Emirates

It’s also about the bigger picture: the collective work of the global movement of climate activists taking action to save our planet. We want to make sure CRIN is putting its energy and resources where it can make the most difference and fill any gaps, both in preserving the planet and supporting the under-18s who organise on the issue. 

A first step in the right direction 

This is the first time we’ll be collaborating with under-18s to this degree, so it’s somewhat experimental. The playing field is an equal and democratic one, though, one on which the Advisers’ contributions will be received equally as any put forward by CRIN staff. We’re also holding ourselves accountable to them. We’re adamant that this not become a tokenistic, paternalistic, adult-centric exercise of ‘NGO listens to children but then excludes them from making the decisions’. We’re also not simply collecting the Advisers’ views only to then leave them on paper tucked away in a drawer. The right to be heard is one thing, but the right to influence decision-making is something else. We genuinely want to join forces with the Advisers and we know they’ll challenge us with a vital injection of fresh, uncompromising ideas and approaches to doing things. 

But it’s not just a one-way street. We’re promising the Advisers a share in the decision-making at an organisation that wants to change the status quo, that has a resolve to extend their demands into the children’s rights sector, and offers an opportunity to build links with other Advisers from around the world. 

The prospect of beginning this new way of working is an exciting one. We recognise that we don’t have all the answers (who does?) and that the ‘NGO way’ may need some tinkering. So we’re joining forces with the Advisers because we also support the same idea of taking bold action on climate justice. We want to decide things together and we know that nothing we do is ever achieved alone.

Over the coming months, we will be sharing more information about the collaboration and our Advisers, so watch this space! In the meantime, we’ve included some of their thoughts and demands across this article.

Growing up in a slum community, I and other children have experienced the adverse effects of climate change such as flooding. Thus I believe it is important to engage children in interventions and solutions that are designed to address climate change issues.

~ Aisha, Nigeria

Climate change is not propaganda. It’s a global crisis more severe than the Covid-19 pandemic. Activism is not just about criticising the government, it’s also all about finding the solution to the problem.

~ Licypriya, India

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