Upholding the right of children to be heard 

WE are faced with a global environmental crisis, part of which involves the rapid loss of species and the rapid degradation of ecosystems.

These issues are children’s rights issues for a number of reasons, one of which is that current children will be the adults who have to deal with the much more severe consequences of environmental crises in years to come, which are likely to include adverse weather events, mass migration and further pandemics.

In the 1980s, nations came together to draft the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which sets out basic human rights for children all over the world. It is the most ratified of all UN human rights instruments, with every country except one (the US) agreeing to abide by it. The rights which are included in this instrument are very important to consider when it comes to environmental issues.

Amongst the most important rights is that when governments are making decisions that affect children, they are obliged to consider how those decisions will affect the interests of children as a group.

At the same time, children have under the CRC the right to be heard in all matters affecting them. It is now globally recognised that children’s views and perspectives greatly enhance policy and planning, and there is much that adults can learn from them.

Ireland’s Children and Young People’s Assembly on Biodiversity Loss contributes to upholding both of these rights. It creates an opportunity for children to learn about the biodiversity crisis and about potential solutions. They will have the chance to provide informed advice based on their unique knowledge and experiences. It will assist government and others in determining what the interests of children are when it comes to biodiversity.

It involves 35 aged 7 -17, and in keeping with other citizens’ assemblies, they were randomly selected from those who applied. It is broadly reflective of this age group in wider Irish society in of age, gender, region and place of residence (urban/rural).

Its were recruited following a public call inviting expressions of interest and letters issued to primary and post primary schools.

Aiming to be as inclusive as possible, the Assembly wishes to ensure all viewpoints, perspectives and lived experiences on biodiversity protection and biodiversity loss are heard. Submissions from children and young people aged between 0 and 17 are also welcome and they can take the form of artwork, video clips, photographs and written documents.

The Assembly will meet over the course of two weekends this Autumn. Uniquely, in of citizens’ assemblies, the Children and Young People’s Assembly has been co-designed and will be co-implemented by children and young people. A young advisory team comprising nine children and young people aged between eight and 16 are helping to develop and organise the assembly in a way that works for children and young people with an intergenerational team that includes an independent research consortium from Dublin City University, University College Cork, and non-governmental organisation Terre des Hommes. The Assembly has been commissioned by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage but operates independently of them.

In keeping with citizen assembly best practice, the assembly’s work will involve three stages: learning, deliberating and deciding. The 35 will draw on input and guidance from relevant experts to their deliberations. The assembly’s discussions will be interactive and creative, drawing on a range of interactive, participatory formats. They will be facilitated to ensure all in the small thematic groups have an opportunity to participate and that the discussions are respectful and focused towards calls for action.

Inspired by the innovative and significant role played by the Scottish Children’s Parliament in the Scottish Climate Assembly’s deliberations, of the young advisory group recently met virtually with some of the Scottish to hear about their experiences, learn more about their processes and the official responses to their 42 calls to action, that were in the end included in Scotland’s Climate Assembly’s final recommendations report laid in the Scottish Parliament.

For its part, the Irish Children and Young People’s Assembly aims to inform work of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, which is due to complete its deliberations later this year, as well as national consultation processes on addressing biodiversity loss. The Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, a body independent from the Children and Young People’s Assembly, is the latest in a series of pioneering Citizens’ Assemblies that have taken place in Ireland since 2012.

Established by an Oireachtas resolution earlier this year, it consists of 99 randomly-selected Irish residents (aged 18 and over) and an independent Chairperson, Dr Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin. 

It has been tasked with examining how the State could better respond to the issue of biodiversity loss, and to make proposals in that regard.

A Native American proverb reminds us ‘We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children’. We are increasingly aware that decisions we make (or don’t make) today could result in irreversible damage to the planet’s biodiversity and ecosystems, the detrimental impacts of which are being borne and will be suffered even more so in the future by today’s children and young people.

It is essential their voices are included in decision making processes and their views are given full consideration.

The children and young people’s Assembly offers an important opportunity for them to have their say and be heard.

Dr Clodagh Harris is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government & Politics, UCC. Dr Aoife Daly is a Lecturer in Law at the School of Law, UCC. They are both s of the Environmental Research Institute at University College Cork and of the team running the youth biodiversity assembly.

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