United Nations acknowledges children’s right to clean air after global campaign by young people
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Unicef has predicted that air pollution will become the leading cause of child mortality by 2050.
By Will Hazell, Education Correspondent
The UN has announced it is to recognise children’s right to clean air following a campaign led by young people around the world.
More than 29,000 children called on the committee of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to acknowledge the right.
Currently, nine out of 10 children around the world are breathing toxins that exceed safe levels which can interfere with critical stages of organ development.
Children are more physiologically vulnerable to air pollution than adults based on their smaller relative size and relative faster breathing rate.
The World Health Organisation estimates that in 2016, 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air, while Unicef has predicted that air pollution will become the leading cause of child mortality by 2050.
In the UK, the issue has risen to particular p...
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