Climate Justice, Environmental Sustainability and the Rights of the Child in Sub-Sahara Africa: Legal and Policy Perspective

Abstract

Climate change is daily making a sustainable environment a mirage and no region of the world is spared. But it is also realized that certain regions and certain groups of persons especially children are more vulnerable. A clean, healthy and sustainable environment is pivotal in the enjoyment of the fundamental, social, economic and cultural rights of all, especially children. Children of the sub-Sahara are disproportionately vulnerable to environmental hazards due to their dependence on their natural environment. Environmental degradation caused by the raging climate change is adverse to children’s survival and sustainable future. This paper seeks to investigate the right of children of the sub-Sahara to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. It examines some legal and policy steps towards the protection and promotion of children to a healthy and sustainable environment. It employs the doctrinal and comparative approach to legal research through textbooks, journals and internet sources and concludes that the sub-Saharan child is not only vulnerable but a right bear in need of climate justice. It recommends, among other things, that participation and inclusion of children in climate change matters should be a priority and that good laws can only function if adequate implementation and surveillance mechanisms are put in place.

Keywords: climate justice, environmental sustainability, child’s rights, sub-Sahara Africa, climate change