CRC/C/GC/26 assembly in relation to the environment, including by providing a safe and enabling environment and a legal and institutional framework within which children can effectively exercise their rights. Children’s rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly shall not be subjected to restrictions other than those imposed in conformity with the law and that are necessary in a democratic society. 30. Children who exercise their right to freedom of expression or engage in protests on environmental matters, including children environmental human rights defenders, often face threats, intimidation, harassment and other serious reprisals. States are required to protect their rights, including by providing a safe and empowering context for initiatives organized by children to defend human rights in schools and other settings. States, State actors, such as the police, and other stakeholders, including teachers, should receive training on children’s civil and political rights, including measures to ensure that children can enjoy them safely. States must take all appropriate measures to ensure that no restrictions other than those that are provided by law and that are necessary are imposed on forming and joining associations or taking part in environmental protests. Laws, including those relating to defamation and libel, should not be abused to suppress children’s rights. States should adopt and implement laws to protect child human rights defenders in accordance with international human rights standards. States should provide effective remedies for violations of children’s rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. 31. States should foster, recognize and support the positive contribution of children to environmental sustainability and climate justice, as an important means of civil and political engagement through which children can negotiate and advocate for the realization of their rights, including their right to a healthy environment, and hold States accountable. F. Access to information (arts. 13 and 17) 32. Access to information is essential for enabling children and their parents or caregivers to comprehend the potential effects of environmental harm on children’s rights. It is also a crucial prerequisite for realizing the rights of children to express their views, to be heard and to effective remedy regarding environmental matters. 33. Children have the right to access to accurate and reliable environmental information, including about the causes, effects and actual and potential sources of climate and environmental harm, adaptive responses, relevant climate and environmental legislation, regulations, findings from climate and environmental impact assessments, policies and plans and sustainable lifestyle choices. Such information empowers children to learn what they can do in their immediate environment related to waste management, recycling and consumption behaviours. 34. States have an obligation to make environmental information available. Dissemination methods should be appropriate to children’s ages and capacities and aimed at overcoming obstacles, such as illiteracy, disability, language barriers, distance and limited access to information and communications technology. States should encourage the media to disseminate accurate information and materials regarding the environment, for example, measures that children and their families can take to manage risks in the context of climate change-related disasters. G. Right to freedom from all forms of violence (art. 19) 35. Environmental degradation, including the climate crisis, is a form of structural violence against children and can cause social collapse in communities and families. Poverty, economic and social inequalities, food insecurity and forced displacement aggravate the risk that children will experience violence, abuse and exploitation. For example, poorer households are less resilient to environment-related shocks, including those caused or exacerbated by climate change, such as rising sea levels, floods, cyclones, air pollution, extreme weather events, desertification, deforestation, droughts, fires, storms and biodiversity loss. The financial hardships, food and clean water shortages and fragile child protection systems brought about by such shocks undermine families’ daily routines, place 6 GE.23-11144