As Nigeria joined the world to commemorate this years World Environment Day, Save the Children International, SCI, has lamented that the world has created huge environmental debt for children and future generations
Drector of Advocacy, Campaigns, Communication and Media, Save the Children International, Amanuel Mamo, expressed this concern in a statement issued by the organisation, while pointing that the issue of climate change is a grave threat to children and their rights.
The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Only One Earth’, and it will be recalled that this was also the slogan for the 1972 conference in Stockholm, Sweden, where the annual global event was first instituted on June 5.
According to SCI, the theme highlights the need to reset the balance with nature through transformative changes in how people eat, live, work and move around, and added that people should have sense of accountability to live sustainably in harmony with nature.
SCI also pointed that one of the huge threats to the environment is climate change, as it is a threat to the rights of children, girls, women, and particularly those living with disabilities.
However, SCI asserted that people living with disability are the first and worst affected by the impact of climate change whether by climate-related natural disasters or the impact of climate change on food production, access to water, livelihoods, and basic social services.
Mamo said, “The climate crisis is the biggest challenge of our time. It is a grave threat to children and their rights. Child rights might not even survive a global climate catastrophe.
“We have created a huge environmental debt for our children and future generations. Children have contributed the least to the climate crisis, and yet we know that they are paying the highest price. Hence, Save the Children recognizes the legitimacy and power of the voice and leadership of children in the climate movement. SCI Nigeria works towards a child-led campaign to promote environmental protection.”
The organisation also pointed that for too long, people have been exploiting and destroying the planet’s ecosystems, “Available data has shown that every three seconds, the world loses enough forest to cover a football pit, and over the last century, we have destroyed half of our wetlands.
“Save the Children is committed to limiting the environmental impact of our work. Through both individual and collective efforts to change our ways of working, we will continue to play our part in reducing the resources we consume to help mitigate climate change and its adverse impact on children and their communities.
“Save the Children International supports and promotes climate smart agriculture, natural resource management, early warning systems, desertification control as well as environmental conservation – including trainings on renewable energy technologies, entrepreneurship and tree planting.
“Save the Children calls upon families, communities, and local, state, and national governments to join hands in bringing positive change to make planet earth a much healthier, greener, and happier place to live in, in a bid to achieve sustainable development goals.
“As a policy, Save the Children International Nigeria staff, partners and volunteers will continue to be accountable for using our resources in an environmentally friendly manner, responsibly for purposes that are both relevant and beneficial to our mission to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.”
The statement called on all relevant government partners, MDAs, CSOs, UN agencies, academia, media, the youth and children to raise awareness, advocate and influence policy, positively shift community behavior and action regarding environmental protection.