NIHRC teams up with Eco-Schools NI

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is delighted to announce its partnership with Eco-Schools NI, an environmental education programme for schools across Northern Ireland. Through the partnership, it is hoped to raise awareness about the impact of climate change on human rights.

The Commission offers a limited number of workshops to post-primary schools that explore the interconnectedness between human rights and climate change, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Alyson Kilpatrick, Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission said:

“We are delighted to team up with Eco-Schools and raise awareness of the important connection between human rights and climate change. The climate crisis is a human rights crisis, and human rights can play a powerful role in empowering people and finding solutions to the climate crisis. We are looking forward to working with young people in post-primary schools to support them in understanding and realising their rights and working towards an environmentally sustainable world.”

Charlene McKeown, Environmental Education Manager at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said:

“We fully echo the view that the climate crisis is a human rights crisis. We see it at home with the disruption to lives and livelihoods from increased flooding and, most devastatingly, in the Global South through extreme weather and growing displacement and climate refugees. The ongoing pursuit of universal climate justice and human rights are two sides of the same coin, and we must ensure that our youth are well aware of the connection. It is extremely important for us to share this great opportunity from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission with our school communities.”

The United Nations has recognised that a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a universal human right. Climate change caused by human activity is denying or limiting the access of many people to a wide range of human rights. The rights to life, health, food, water, cultural rights, the rights of the child, and the right to a healthy environment are all being jeopardised and violated on a daily basis.

In addition to climate change and human rights workshops, the Commission has a number of climate change and human rights videos on the Resources library on our website: www.nihrc.org/our-work/education-promotion/resources

If you are interested in booking a workshop at your post-primary school, please contact info@nihrc.org. We are a small team and workshops are delivered subject to availability.

You can find out more about the Eco-Schools NI initiative on their website: Eco-Schools, Partners (eco-schoolsni.org)