Global Children’s Environmental Health Conference

Every year, more than a quarter of all deaths among children under five are linked to unhealthy environments. Beyond child survival, the environment is eroding progress on children's health, learning and earning potential.

The Global Children's Environmental Health Conference marks the first in-person gathering of the Children's Environmental Health Collaborative, bringing together leaders from governments, businesses, philanthropy, academia, multilateral organizations, and civil society to drive international action on children's environmental health. Co-hosted by UNICEF and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, this conference at the China National Convention Center in Beijing will recognize the compounding environmental health threats and the need for holistic national agendas involving a whole-of-government approach. The conference will also promote private sector leadership in eliminating environmental harms to children and scaling-up healthier environments.

The conference will cover these broad themes:

• Key environmental hazards: Toxic chemical exposures, air pollution, climate change and disasters, and unsafe built environments;
• Priority government actions: Monitoring and measuring risk; prioritizing, legislating and regulating; strengthening systems and engaging communities; and developing child-friendly and resilient built environments; and
• Business actions: Eliminating environmental harms and creating and scaling healthier environments for children.

Together, participants will identify practical actions to place children at the center of environmental decision-making—advancing a shared agenda that cuts across ministries and sectors.

The goal is clear: a healthy environment for every child.