Don’t COP-out: Save the Children calls for greater commitments at climate summit for future generations
Glasgow, 10th November – Save the Children has described a draft agreement published at the COP26 climate summit on Wednesday as “incredibly disappointing” and urged governments to make great commitments and not let down millions of children affected by the climate crisis on a daily basis.
Kirsty McNeill, Executive Director of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns said:
“The draft agreement we have seen today is nowhere near the commitments and actions we need to protect children and their futures from the climate crisis. We’re almost at the end of COP26, and what we are hearing and seeing in this deal is incredibly disappointing.
“This is still a draft, and with three days to go until the end of the summit, there is still time to commit to protecting the world’s children. This is a gathering of adults but the people most impacted by discussions here are today’s and tomorrow’s children. They will neither forgive nor forget if we rob them of their futures.
“The climate emergency, created by adults, is a child rights crisis to which children themselves have contributed next to nothing. Yet, in the 7-page long document, the concrete reference to children, their futures and their rights is almost nowhere to be seen.
“We know from our recent report with Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB) that today’s children will live through far worse impacts of the changing climate than their grandparents, with those in lower- and middle-income countries and marginalised communities bearing the brunt. Without substantial increases in ambition and urgency – in emissions reductions, financing particularly for the most vulnerable, and efforts to address the urgent issue of loss and damage – the commitments in this agreement will seem like empty promises to the millions of children that are affected by the climate crisis on a daily basis.
“We are also hoping for more significant progress to address loss and damage, with only Scotland pledging to provide £1million, so far. In climate vulnerable communities across the world, the irreversible impacts of the climate crisis are hitting children hard."
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