Promulgated as a General Comment by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (a body of independent experts charged with monitoring implementation of the treaty) and prompted by the efforts of children themselves to bring attention to the triple planetary crisis of the climate emergency, the collapse of biodiversity, and pervasive pollution, the document stresses the urgent need to address the adverse effects of environmental degradation on the human rights of children. This groundbreaking document also clarifies the obligations of States parties to the treaty to address environmental harm and climate change and what mitigation and adaptation measures they can take to uphold the universal human rights of children to live in a clean, healthy, and sustainable world.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely-ratified human rights treaty in history; only one country in the world has failed to join: the United States. But some organizations in the US have been working for years to advance, through state constitutional litigation, the rights of children to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Late last year, in a landmark climate change lawsuit brought by Our Children’s Trust on behalf of sixteen young people, the Montana Supreme Court ruled children have a constitutional right to “a clean and healthful environment” that includes a stable climate system.

We are thrilled to be partnering for the 2025-26 Human Rights Advocacy in Action Practicum with Our Children’s Trust to support their groundbreaking, creative legal work to secure the rights of children everywhere to a healthy and sustainable future. At a time when governments in many countries—including our own here in the United States—are failing to address the climate emergency and even denying its existence, we are excited to be joining forces with an innovative and fearless organization like Our Children’s Trust to manifest a better future.