PR | Along with Zakia Khattabi, Belgium adheres to the Intergovernmental Declaration on Youth and Climate.

Launched in 2019 at the 25th Convention of the Parties (COP25) in Madrid by YOUNGO and UNICEF, the Inter-Governmental Declaration on Children, Youth and Climate Action is a text written by youth for youth. It recognises that young people are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, their incredible capacity to tackle climate change and seeks to correct the pervasive omission of children in climate policies, strategies and plans.

With the signing of Zakia Khattabi, Belgium joins 34 other States in respecting the priorities identified by children and youth from all over the world, reaffirming a series of guiding principles such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

For the Green Minister, this support was self-evident. "Heatwaves, droughts, air pollution, floods... Although the children of today and tomorrow are not responsible for climate change, they are the ones who bear the consequences the most! At the same time, all over the world, young people are mobilizing on a daily basis, making them a major driving force in the fight against climate change. It is therefore essential that they be at the heart of climate policies so that they can benefit from their right to grow up in a healthy environment”, she explains.

“This signature from Belgium is a major signal in this second part of the COP. There will no doubt be extensive negotiations this week. However, it is good to know that Belgium will also be guided by the priorities defined by a global group of children and youth," says Kobe Hautekiet, climate and children's rights expert at UNICEF Belgium.