The climate crisis and children

As Islamic Relief publishes a new Climate Action Policy Paper, Jamie Williams, our Senior Policy Advisor for Poverty Reduction, discusses the impact climate change has on children and how their voices are central to finding a solution.

A newly completed scientific assessment report by the IPCC on climate impacts and vulnerability makes it clear that children are uniquely affected by climate breakdown. They face multiple crises: 2 billion exposed to air pollution, 80 per cent deaths due to illnesses, disease and accidents related to climate, mental health under threat. 920 million children are subject to water scarcity, while extreme weather displaces 42 million children from their homes and exposes them to protection risks.

The climate crisis will see at least 24 million children undernourished, while 38 million have already suffered disruption to their schooling and 175 million have been affected by ‘natural’ disasters.

But technological and social transitions and transformation towards climate resilient development are possible. With political will, children’s needs and priorities considered in planning for adaptation and attention to their families’ livelihoods and reducing poverty, risks and vulnerabilities can be reduced.

And children and young people themselves are central to these efforts. Already movements such as Fridays for Future climate strikes have framed climate change as a social justice issue in demonstrations and on social media.

Climate action catalysed by youth and other climate movements include visible international events such as the signing of Declaration on Children, Youth, and Climate Action at COP25 in Madrid 2019. It is essential to include children’s contributions towards local efforts to adapt and build resilience.

There is a need for new learning approaches to climate education from school age to adult education, from formal and informal education to wider social learning. Informal learning that takes place outside of school settings, such as in libraries and botanical gardens and in everyday life is increasingly recognised as a key arena for climate education, life-long learning and nurturing environmental citizenship and activism.

Islamic Relief’s latest Climate Action Policy Paper sets out our position towards harnessing this energy at the international and local level. It recognises that children most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, but also how they can be effective agents of action and contribute to efforts to mitigate and adapt.

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