2023 CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION

A congressional concurrent resolution - S.Con.Res.13 and H.Con.Res.56 - which was reintroduced on July 13, 2023, by members of Congress, supports the principles underpinning Juliana v. United States, the landmark constitutional climate lawsuit filed by 21 young Americans, including 11 Black, Brown, and Indigenous youth. This resolution recognizing children’s fundamental rights and climate recovery planning is sponsored by Senator Merkley and Representatives Schakowsky and Jayapal and was first introduced on September 23, 2020 during the 116th Congress and also reintroduced during the 117th Congress.

The Children's Fundamental Rights and Climate Recovery resolution recognizes that our current climate crisis disproportionately affects the health, economic opportunity, and fundamental rights of children, which demands that the United States develop a national, comprehensive, science-based, and just climate recovery plan to meet necessary emissions reduction targets.

This plan will put the United States on a trajectory consistent with reducing global atmospheric carbon dioxide to below 350 parts per million by the year 2100 to restore the planet’s energy balance and stabilize our climate system to uphold children’s fundamental rights. Experts have found multiple technically and economically feasible pathways to place all sectors of our economy on a path to reach this target.

Children and future generations from all communities deserve a safe, healthy, and livable planet. Support environmental and climate justice and children from across our nation and within environmental justice communities, including communities of color, low-income communities, and indigenous communities, that have contributed the least to emissions and have long suffered from systemic environmental racism and social and economic injustices.

CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING CHILDREN’S FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND CLIMATE RECOVERY

take action. support the resolution.

  • Visit Congress.gov to learn more about S.Con.Res.13 and H.Con.Res.56. 

  • Read the press release and what members of Congress and organizational endorsers have to say about the July 13, 2023 resolution reintroduction here. 

  • Read press releases from Senator Merkley and Congresswomen Schakowsky and Jayapal: here, here (7/18/23 video at 4.29 mins), here.

  • Check out the up-to-date list of more than 95 cosponsors and more than 145 organizational endorsers of the resolution here.

  • Download the resolution text and fact sheet here. 

Contact your legislators NOW and urge them to cosponsor the resolution by visiting our action page here.

Then, share using our social media toolkit here.

Endorsements

We are grateful for more than 145 resolution endorsements from leading climate, public health, children’s, legal, labor, minority, business, faith, and human rights organizations, including Amnesty International USA, Center for Biological Diversity, Children's Environmental Health Network, Food & Water Watch, Fridays for Future, Friends of the Earth, GreenLatinos, GreenFaith, Greenpeace, League of Women Voters of the United States, the People’s Justice Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sierra Club, 350.org, and Zero Hour.

Check out the up-to-date list of endorsements here.

Join us! If you are part of an organization, ask your
organization to endorse the resolution here.

Next Steps

If you are a legislator, learn more about how you can support this congressional concurrent resolution, and other ways to support the Juliana 21 here.

If you are an individual or an organization, contact your legislators and show your support! More details on how to stand with the Juliana plaintiffs can be found here.

Learn more about the Juliana v. United States plaintiffs by reading their bios and watching two short videos: a visit to Congress in this video from the Years Project and this 60 minutes segment.

Questions?  Contact Liz Lee at liz@ourchildrenstrust.org for more information about the resolution.