Climate change, human rights and the Nigerian child

Children rank among the world’s most vulnerable groups due to factors such as their young age and reliance on others. The environment in which children live is a critical factor in their physical and mental development. Though there exists a plethora of national policies (for example, the National Climate Change Policy 2021-2030) alluding to climate change issues with respect to children, issues relating to children are yet to be explicitly included in climate change measures, including legal instruments in Nigeria. This article investigates some critical and current issues surrounding the climate-changed child, which include whether children have the right to a clean environment, how this right may be realised and its implications for the potential of children and youth-led climate litigation in Nigeria. The article then focuses on how the Nigerian government can explicitly mainstream the rights of children and youths into climate change interventions and how provisions on the right to a clean and healthy environment can be used to protect children from the negative impacts of climate change and promote litigation, particularly among children and the youth in Nigeria.