Change needs to happen now if we are to avoid the worst consequences. The climate crisis is not just the weather.

The failure of governments to act on the climate crisis constitutes a violation of children’s rights, according to a landmark complaint presented by 16 youth activists to the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg — who hit out at global inaction during last week’s Climate Action Summit — and American Alexandria Villaseñor, who has been spending her Fridays on climate strike outside UN Headquarters in New York, have been joined by others aged eight to 17, from a dozen different countries including Brazil, India, Nigeria, France and South Africa, in signing the complaint.

The group alleges that under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Committee should order Member States to take action to protect all children from the devastating impacts of climate change.

“Change needs to happen now if we are to avoid the worst consequences. The climate crisis is not just the weather. It means also, lack of food and lack of water, places that are unlivable and refugees because of it. It is scary,” said Thunberg at a press conference hosted by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) at the UN Headquarters.

Although it supports their complaint, the agency is not a party to it and will not play any part in the Committee’s decision.

“Thirty years ago, world leaders made a historic commitment to the world’s children by adopting the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Today, the world’s children are holding the world accountable to that commitment,” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Charlotte Petri Gornitzka.

“We fully support children exercising their rights and taking a stand. Climate change will impact every single one of them. It’s no wonder they are uniting to fight back.”

The complaint was filed through the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a voluntary mechanism which allows children, or adults on their behalf, to appeal directly to the United Nations for help if a country that has ratified the Protocol fails to provide a remedy for a rights violation.