CRIN's strategy on climate justice
As an organisation that works on all children's rights, we must acknowledge that climate and environmental degradation affect all other rights, as without a planet to live and thrive in, what’s the point of rights? But more than recognising this reality, we must act on it. Read our new climate justice strategy.
Climate justice looks at the planetary crisis through a human rights lens. Depending on multiple - often intersecting - factors, such as location, economic status, race, gender and age, the impact of the crisis does not affect everyone equally.
Climate justice therefore means we focus on those most affected by and vulnerable to climate impacts. As such, it builds on existing civil rights movements.
With the growing number of children and youth protesting against climate inaction around the world, there is a deepening understanding of intergenerational justice and children’s rights in this field.
Yet under-18s are almost entirely left out of decision-making, despite being more awake to the problem than most adults. And this is not just about attending climate conferences; it calls for actions that need to be taken today - at all levels of society - to ensure children and the next generations have a future.
As an organisation that works on all children's rights, we must acknowledge that climate and environmental degradation affect all other rights, as without a planet to live and thrive in, what’s the point of rights? But more than recognising this reality, we must act on it.
Young people are clear: there is too much talking and not enough action. So we have formed a group of young climate advisers, and together, developed CRIN’s new strategy.
Building on our CRIN Code, our work will focus on the following:
Justice and accountability: Justice and accountability are not up for negotiation. There will be no sustainable future without justice at its core. We will identify where responsibility lies and what can be done to ensure justice is accessible for children and their representatives. See our access to justice for children’s environmental rights project.
Connecting the issues: We want to tackle the root causes of climate injustice and identify how they interconnect. We must also ensure our efforts build on work done by our predecessors, and set the foundation for those who will follow. We will bring clarity to how children’s rights to health, education, protection from violence, and many more, are already - and will continue to be - affected by the climate crisis.
Inclusion: Children have everything to lose. We must ensure our work supports their efforts; in particular those in communities most affected. We will shape our work in response to the input of the children and young people we work with. More than this, we will be open and inclusive to the diverse activists and movements fighting for climate justice. We will campaign to ensure this happens at all levels of society.
Collective Action: The only way we will achieve the transformative change needed is by working in solidarity with existing movements, in particular those on the frontline of the climate crisis. We will identify where our skills and expertise are most useful and what actions we can join in. This is also about creating a new language to enable anyone interested in contributing to be able to do so.
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