A/HRC/37/58 5. The loss of biodiversity and access to nature 30. Biological diversity (biodiversity) is necessary for healthy ecosystems, which in turn are necessary for the full enjoyment of human rights (see A/HRC/34/49). Although everyone in the world depends on ecosystems, some depend more directly than others. Indigenous peoples and traditional communities that rely on forests, fisheries and other natural ecosystems for their material subsistence and cultural life suffer disproportionately when those ecosystems are destroyed or degraded. More generally, decreasing biodiversity and the loss of access to the natural environment affect many children around the world. Interaction with microbial diversity is critical to the development of healthy immune systems, 41 and the loss of such microbial diversity is apparently causing autoimmune diseases, allergic disorders and other non-communicable inflammatory diseases to become more prevalent in all parts of the world.42 Exposure to nature also has beneficial effects on mental health,43 but many children, especially in urban settings, have little or no contact with the natural environment. B. Environmental harm and the rights of children 31. Environmental harm interferes with the full enjoyment of a vast range of the rights of the child. This section focuses on the effects on children’s rights to life, health, development, an adequate standard of living, play and recreation.44 1. Rights to life, health and development 32. The Human Rights Committee has stated that the right to life should not be interpreted narrowly, and that the protection of the right requires States to adopt positive measures, such as measures to reduce infant mortality and increase life expectancy. 45 The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes that every child has the inherent right to life and provides that States shall ensure to the maximum extent possible not only the survival, but also the development of the child (art. 6). The Convention also recognizes the right to the highest attainable standard of health (art. 24), as do the Constitution of WHO and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 12). 33. A healthy environment is necessary for children’s enjoyment of the rights to life, development and health.46 The Convention on the Rights of the Child requires States parties to pursue full implementation of the right to health by appropriate measures that include the provision of nutritious foods and clean drinking water, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution (art. 24 (2) (c)). As explained above, environmental harm causes the death of over 1 million children every year, most under the age of 5 years old. It also contributes to lifelong health problems, including asthma and other respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, cancer and neurological disorders. Climate change and the loss of biological diversity are long-term environmental crises that will affect children 41 42 43 44 45 46 Paul Sandifer, Ariana Sutton-Grier and Bethney Ward, “Exploring connections among nature, biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human health and well-being: opportunities to enhance health and biodiversity conservation”, Ecosystem Services, vol. 12 (April 2015), pp. 1 and 7. WHO and Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health — A State of Knowledge Review (2015), p. 150. Sandifer, Sutton-Grier and Ward “Exploring connections”, p. 3; see also Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 17 (2013) on the right of the child to rest, leisure, play, recreational activities, cultural life and the arts, para. 40. This is not an exhaustive list. The enjoyment of other rights, such as the rights to education and culture, are also implicated by climate change, natural disasters and other types of environmental harm. See, for example, A/HRC/35/13, para. 29. And the disproportionate effects on children already vulnerable for other reasons implicate obligations of non-discrimination, as explained below. See Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 6 (1982) on the right to life, para. 5. See Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 14 (2000) on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, para. 4; Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 7 (2005) on implementing child rights in early childhood, para. 10; general comment No. 15 (2013) on the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, para. 2. 9