Nrw Launches Children’s Rights Charter On World Environment Day

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is marking this year’s World Environment Day (5 June) with the publication of its Children’s Rights Charter.  

The Charter, which was developed in collaboration with the Children’s Commissioner for Wales and children and young people from across Wales, sets out how NRW will uphold and promote children’s rights in relation to the natural environment.   

This is part of a wider approach rolled out across the organisation to make sure that the needs of children and young people are given centre stage in decision-making and service planning. 

Launching the Charter, NRW Chief Executive Clare Pillman said:

We believe that it is every child’s right to live, learn, play and grow up in a healthy and sustainably managed natural environment. The Children’s Rights Approach embeds this belief in all that we do. 

Our staff work together, and with our partners, to ensure that all of our children have clean air and water, beautiful landscapes, healthy soil to grow our food in and a rich diversity of plants and wildlife to enjoy.  

It is clear that children and young people value and care for the natural environment and understand that they too can play a part in looking after it for now and the future. 

It is an honour to launch the Children’s Rights Charter on World Environment Day, and to formalise our commitment to looking after the rights of our children and young people.  

We thank everyone who’s been involved in developing the Charter, and to the Children’s Commissioner for Wales’ Office for supporting us throughout the process.

All children and young people have human rights as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention is a list of rights that all children and young people have, wherever they live in the world.  

The Children’s Commissioner for Wales’ Office held conversations on NRW’s behalf with children and young people from Bryn Tirion Hall School in Wrexham, Stacey Road Primary in Cardiff and a Young Carers Group in Merthyr Tydfil, to help identify which rights they wanted to prioritise. 

The Charter sets out how NRW will promote each of the 10 prioritised rights, and what children and young people can also do to support a clean and healthy natural environment.  

Sally Holland, Children’s Commissioner for Wales said:

I'm very pleased that National Resources Wales has published this clear commitment to children's rights, co-written with young people.

Children need to know and trust that their human rights will be respected and upheld by public bodies like Natural Resources Wales, and that organisations actively consider their rights when planning their work. 

Our Children's Rights Approach helps all organisations who work with children in Wales to plan how they can do this effectively.