Sustainability website a welcome initiative … but where are the children?

Every Child Counts has welcomed the launch today of a Government sustainability website but questions whether children’s needs are a high enough priority in discussions about sustainability.

“By neglecting children’s interests we are sowing the seeds of irresponsibility and strife so that our present efforts toward sustainability will come to nothing,” said Deborah Morris-Travers, Every Child Counts Project Manager.

“It’s important that we end waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and conserve non-renewable resources. But there is more to sustainability than conservation. An item that is missing in the discussion of a sustainable future is children. It is they who carry our society forward and whether we have been kind or unkind to the environment will not matter if they are not equipped to run our country and our world in a sustainable way.”

“As the recent Paediatric Society report showed, many of our children are falling behind in health. The ability and willingness to make a contribution to society and care for the environment requires that all children reach their full potential.

“Nurturing today’s children well is what will make the biggest contribution to creating a future that sustains our environment and all New Zealanders. Any effort to achieve sustainability is doomed to failure if children continue to be neglected at every level of our society,” concluded Ms Morris-Travers.

ENDS

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