A/HRC/35/14 I. Introduction 1. Pursuant to its resolution 32/33, the Human Rights Council held a panel discussion on the adverse impact of climate change on States’ efforts to realize the rights of the child and related policies, lessons learned and good practices.1 2. The panel discussion was chaired by the Vice-President of the Human Rights Council, Amr Ramadan, and it opened with a statement by the Director of the Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 3. The discussion provided an opportunity for States, international organizations and other relevant stakeholders to discuss the impact of climate change on the enjoyment of the rights of the child, with a focus on facilitating effective, rights-based climate action through the exchange of knowledge and good practices between expert panellists, States, international organizations and other relevant stakeholders. 4. The panel was moderated by the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Maria Teresa T. Almojuela. The panellists were the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, Ha Kim Ngoc; the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, M. Shameem Ahsan; the Director of the Geneva Liaison Office of the Division of Public Partnerships at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); the Rapporteur of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Kirsten Sandberg; and the founder of the Green Hope Foundation, Kehkashan Basu. II. Opening session 5. The Director of the Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division stated that the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other human rights instruments required action to address the threat of climate change. The Committee on the Rights of the Child had found that climate change was a serious threat to children’s health and that it exacerbated health disparities. Climate change increased risks posed to children by diseases, malnutrition, heat stress, natural disasters and displacement, affecting their rights, their well-being and even their survival. With this in mind, it was essential for children to be at the centre of mitigation and adaptation strategies. 6. Climate change also posed a direct threat to children’s identities, their livelihoods and their relationship with the environment. From a legal, ethical and moral perspective, when children died as result of preventable, anthropogenic causes, insufficient preventative action challenged the very conception of justice. However, States’ current commitments to address climate change were projected to fall far short of the action needed to stay below the 2°C warming limit agreed to in the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and to satisfy their respective obligations related to the rights of the child and intergenerational equity. Each State had human rights obligations to prevent climate harms by regulating environmental practices, to protect vulnerable communities, to hold violators accountable and to ensure redress when harms were suffered. 7. A rights-based approach to climate action also required that children be empowered as agents of change and be ensured an education adequate for them to rise to future challenges. Children were entitled to participate (according to their age and maturity) in decisions that had a direct and indirect impact upon their well-being, including those related to climate policy. For example, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development described children as agents of change critical to the transition towards an equitable, sustainable and 1 2 The full video of the panel discussion is available from http://webtv.un.org/meetingsevents/watch/panel-discussion-on-climate-change-and-child-rights-10th-meeting-34th-regularsession-human-rights-council-/5343577829001.