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Background 

The world is home to 2.3 billion children, with 29.3% of the world’s population under the age of 18 and 1.8 billion young people aged 10 to 24 (2020) - the largest generation of young people in history. A significant number of these children and youth live in areas vulnerable to natural disasters and climate impacts. For instance half a billion children live in extremely high flood occurrence zones and nearly 160 million children in areas experiencing high or extremely high drought severity. For many of these children and young people, climate vulnerability is compounded with socioeconomic issues such as conflict, extreme poverty and lack of access to basic services such as sanitation and safe water.
In parallel, it is increasingly recognized that the adverse effects of climate change contribute directly and indirectly to (temporary and permanent) migration and displacement, within countries and across borders. Migration in the context of natural disasters and climate change is often a multi-causal phenomenon, with multiple drivers intersecting to shape the decision to migrate. For this reason, it is difficult to estimate the number of people, including children, on the move due to climate impacts. However, it is clear that children and youth are heavily concerned by migration dynamics, with one in 8 migrants being a child (back in 2020 - today it’s 1 per 6 ratio). In addition, past migrations are generating a profound demographic shift—with the children of migrants representing the fastest growing segment of the child and youth population in a number of high and middle-income countries across the world. The linkages between children, climate and migration remain underexplored, however it is clear that climate impacts add new layers of vulnerability for a large number of children and young people living and migrating in difficult conditions.

Therefore, this side event aims to highlight the urgent need for a holistic and human rights-based approach with an emphasis on the specific subset of children and youth rights, to address the challenges posed by climate-induced displacement. It emphasizes the significance of integrating climate action with human rights principles, to ensure that the most vulnerable populations are not left behind in the face of the climate crisis. The event also aims to foster a sense of collective responsibility among member states, UN agencies, NGOs and stakeholders to protect the rights and dignity of those affected by climate-induced displacement, in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and international human rights conventions.

Key questions

• What legal and ethical frameworks should be established to address the rights and protection of those displaced by climate change, considering the increasing displacement of people due to the environmental factors?
• How can we support and assist those affected by climate-induced migration on global and regional levels? What is needed to take effective measures in this issue at different levels, to ensure decent life for people in displacement, living in climate hotspots?
• How to encourage member states to adopt a human rights viewpoint in their management of crises? How can international cooperation and multilateralism promote a human rights-based approach to the protection of displaced youth?
• How can a human-rights based approach protect the rights and dignity of young persons in the upcoming future?