Our hopes for COP26
In solidarity with youth climate activists around the world, the UNICEF UK Youth Advisory Board wrote an open letter, published in The Times and supported by our Ambassadors, ahead of COP26. You can read their full reflections on what they’re hoping for from World Leaders at COP26, below.
We know climate change is a problem.
We know it is the single most significant crisis facing children and young people today; it is already impacting almost every aspect of our lives. If drastic changes are not made soon, we are going to see worsening of climate-related weather conditions, food and water shortages and so much more. We know the consequences of climate change as they have been proven time and again.
More than half of the world’s children live in high-risk countries. Climate change endangers the rights of children and young people by constraining their ability to survive and develop, and denying them access to education, healthcare, along with political stability as secondary effects. As the UNICEF UK’s Youth Advisory Board, we strongly feel that this makes climate change not just an environmental crisis, but a children’s rights crisis too.
Despite being the least responsible for climate change, we children and young people globally are going to be facing the brunt of its damage, both now and in the future. Right now, two billion children are living in areas with unsafe levels of air pollution, levels exceeding the World Health Organisation’s standards, and by 2040 UNICEF projections suggest as many as one in four children could live in areas where the washing away of their home becomes a daily concern. This is simply terrifying for us. The fear is compounded by the fact that time is running out, and every frustrating second of inaction is closing the already narrow window we have.
Young people should be at the forefront of the decision-making process, and should be consulted on our feelings and opinions in related discussions. Our generation should not have to be responsible for solving a problem we did not create – but in the end, who else will?
The world is beginning to understand the gravity of the climate crisis and take action, but we’re already steps ahead. Our generation has held countless marches to raise awareness, created petitions to lobby governments to address the crisis more severely, and demanded that large corporations – who contribute hugely to climate change – be held to account more severely and effectively for the untold damage that they have caused. And we’re only just getting started.
Change starts with us, and it can start with you too. We want decision makers to commit to making climate policies centered around children and young people – we want to ensure our rights are upheld. We’re calling on all campaigners, activists or anyone who hopes for a better future to sign our petition asking the Government to join the 15 other countries and sign the Declaration on Children, Youth and Climate Actionto help make this a reality. This is the only way to make sure that the measures taken to preserve our environment and our future are as effective as possible.
Climate change is no longer a challenge for the future, it is a problem that we need to tackle now. All over the world, children and young people are suffering its consequences, consequences that will only worsen as time goes on.
Change starts now, and it starts with us. By signing UNICEF UK’s petition, listening to children and young people’s views on climate change and allowing them to influence decision making to combat the crisis, you are standing with us in our fight for a safer world and a brighter future.
We’re grateful to many of UNICEF’s Ambassadors and Supporters for standing in solidarity with us at this critical time, here.
Eddie, Isabelle, Magali, Maham, Michael and Niamh
UNICEF UK’s Youth Advisory Board
