Unraveling the Janus mistery of children and future generation’s enviornmental rights

Ippolito, Francesca

2023-01-01

---

Abstract

The present contribution aims to clarify the notion of future generations, reflecting on the extent to which this notion takes into consideration children’s rights, especially about the environment. After laying the foundations of the analysis, this work will shed light on the potential advantages of using the children’s rights framework to strengthen the promotion of the rights and interests of future generations. Notably, the ambition to enhance future generations’ protection through the children’s rights framework presents several challenges. The first is the risk of downplaying child-specific environmental rights. To overcome this possible tension, the present work argues in favor of a more proactive role that shall be played by the monitoring body of the New York Convention. In this author’s view, the CRC Committee appears to be the body best suited to enhance the commitment to future generations and guarantee a correct balance of eventual profiles of competing positions and perspectives.