The right to breathe clean air has been acknowledged by the Committee of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), following a global campaign backed by more than 29,000 young people.
Ahead of a virtual event championing a child’s right to clean air, the vice-chair to the Committee of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Philip D. Jaffé, has confirmed that clean air will be elevated within the UNCRC through the forthcoming General Comment No.26.
Access to clean air has recently been recognized as a human right, but is not among children’s rights defined by the UNCRC.
“I will do my part and I will do everything I can with my colleagues to support you in what you are doing,” said Mr Jaffé.
Over the last six months children from the UK, US, China, India have been demanding their right to clean air through the Freedom to breathe campaign.
The campaign, which is run by Blueair in partnership with Global Action Plan, the Coalition for Clean Air, Centre for Environment Education and Safekids Worldwide, has now collected 29,674 signatures worldwide.
It is estimated that nine out of 10 children worldwide breathe toxins that exceed safe levels which can interfere with critical stages of organ development in a child.
Children are more physiologically vulnerable to air pollution based on their smaller relative size and they have greater exposure to air pollution based on their relative faster breathing rate, per unit of body weight, compared to adults.
By 2050, UNICEF predicts that air pollution will become the leading cause of child mortality and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in 2016 alone, 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air.
The Freedom to breathe campaign hopes the Committee of the UNCRC will acknowledge children’s right to clean air leading to it becoming more anchored within the U.N. system, providing authoritative guidance for individual countries that will accelerate action on air pollution.
“Change is more likely to happen now that we have the support of the Committee of the UNCRC so this acknowledgment is brilliant step in the right direction,” said the CEO of environmental charity Global Action Plan, Sonja Graham.
“Through the Freedom to breathe campaign, the children came to recognise that clean air is an essential necessity for life – just like clean water and healthy food – and we are thrilled their demands were given a platform to be heard by the committee.”
Edward Avol, co-author of the USC children’s study on air quality impacts on children’s health added: “Children are especially vulnerable to dirty air because they are growing, and research shows that body organs can be very sensitive during growth. Lungs, brains, and other tissues can take decades to fully develop, so air pollution has the potential to cause lasting harm.
“Additionally, children are more active than adults and may not know to “take it easy” when the air they are breathing is polluted. Research suggests the damage caused may be irreversible. To protect this generation and future generations of children, we must clean up our dirty air!”
Last month (October), Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation published figures, which revealed more than 250,000 children in the UK in 2019 were born in areas where levels of toxic pollutant PM2.5 breached the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2005 guidelines.
Campaigner Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, whose daughter, Ella became the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as cause of death, said: “No matter where they live, every child deserves the right to breathe clean air. Children recognise the public health crisis and are demanding that policy makers do what's necessary to protect their health and future.
“The coroner's decision in Ella's inquest made clear that the UK needs to follow WHO air quality guidelines. Air pollution is a global pandemic, so every country should do the same.
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November 17, 2021 at 06:08PM
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Victory For Campaign To Recognise A Child’s Right To Clean Air - Forbes
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