BEIJING, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of children gathered in a stadium in Beijing on Thursday, World Children's Day, to learn all about garbage classification, try their hand at generating electricity, and collect stamps related to ocean protection.

As the culmination of a six-month campaign, "Step Up for Climate," the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Chinese Meteorological Society (CMS) hosted a flagship event at Beijing Polytechnic University, where they called for climate solutions.

"Adolescents are the future and hope of the country, and they are also an important force in the fight against climate change," said Jiao Meiyan, deputy chair of the CMS.

World Children's Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on Nov. 20, 1989.

"Across China, children and young people are rising to meet one of the greatest challenges of our time: the climate crisis," said UNICEF Representative to China Amakobe Sande.

While climate change affects the entire world, according to the UNICEF, nearly 70 percent of Chinese children face more than six heatwaves a year and over 110 million experience water scarcity.

"Every child has the right to grow up in a safe, clean, and sustainable environment," said Sande. "Young people are not waiting to be rescued, they are leading the response. They are transforming classrooms into climate labs and showing the world that they are the architects of climate solutions."

Since 2021, the UNICEF Office for China has collaborated with the Ministry of Education to integrate green skills -- the knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to live in, develop and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society -- into vocational education. The initiative equips young people with the expertise and skills needed to thrive in the green economy and to lead climate-smart solutions in their communities.

Zhang Sasa, headmaster of the Hainan Agriculture School in south China's island province Hainan, told Xinhua that the program has enhanced students' environmental awareness in their daily lives. They have actively participated in environmental protection activities and are now able to proactively apply green skills to empower their studies and enrich their lives.

For instance, a student improved the smart irrigation system to save water, and another helped draft a brochure for the fishermen to protect the ocean.

Gong Yifan, a 17-year-old student with the Chongqing No.8 Secondary School in the southwest Chinese municipality of Chongqing, did a study with his friends on the carbon emission behind the digital technology.

"Today everyone is using a cellphone, but many of them are not aware of the carbon emission behind it," he said, adding that in recent years, Chongqing, dubbed as a "furnace city" for its scorching summers, is becoming increasingly hot due to climate change.

"We must take action," he noted. "Environmental issues are closely related to a country's development, and every person's life."

With support from UNICEF, 48 cities and counties across China, along with over 30 UNICEF program schools, also marked their commitment to children's rights for World Children's Day. Many cities and schools have implemented creative lighting displays by creating sculptures and installations with children centered around environmental themes, using recyclable materials.

"I would also like to speak to the children and young people," said Sande in her speech. "You are the generation that will redefine what it means to live sustainably. You will build bridges between science and society, between policy and people, between hope and action."