Climate change presents a complex challenge impacting communities. Its far-reaching effects make children a particularly susceptible group. Their developing bodies, unique behaviors, and reliance on adults mean they experience climate change consequences with heightened intensity. Addressing climate change from a child-centered perspective is paramount to safeguarding their well-being and future.
Why Children Are Uniquely Vulnerable
Children’s distinct physiological and developmental characteristics make them more vulnerable to climate change impacts. Their maturing organ systems lead to greater susceptibility to environmental hazards. Children breathe faster than adults, increasing exposure to harmful air pollutants like ground-level ozone and particulate matter. This heightened exposure can contribute to respiratory conditions like asthma and may affect neurodevelopment.
Young children depend on caregivers for safety and resources, limiting their ability to escape danger or independently seek shelter, clean water, or food during a crisis. This dependency extends to their long-term health, as early life exposures can have lasting implications on health and cognitive abilities.
Children’s developing brains throughout adolescence make them more emotionally susceptible to mental health impacts from environmental stressors. They also have less agency in decisions affecting their environment and future. This combination of biological, developmental, and social factors places children at higher risk from climate threats.
How Climate Change Directly Affects Children
Climate change directly impacts children’s physical and mental health, education, and safety in various ways. Increased air pollution from wildfire smoke, dust from droughts, and ground-level ozone leads to a rise in respiratory illnesses among children, such as asthma.
Heat-related illnesses are a growing concern, as children’s bodies are less efficient at regulating temperature and can dehydrate more easily. This makes infants and young children particularly susceptible to conditions like heat stress and hyperthermia. Changes in climate patterns can expand the range and seasonality of vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue, increasing children’s exposure.
Food and water insecurity, often exacerbated by extreme weather events like droughts and floods, can lead to malnutrition and waterborne diseases. Children born during drought years, for instance, are more likely to experience malnutrition and stunted growth. Beyond physical health, climate change contributes to mental health challenges for children, including climate anxiety, eco-grief, and trauma from extreme weather events or displacement.
The impacts also extend to education, with school closures becoming more frequent due to extreme weather, damaged infrastructure, or displacement. A staggering 400 million students globally experienced school closures from extreme weather between 2022 and 2024. This disruption, along with stress and illness from climate impacts, can negatively affect children’s learning abilities and lead to long-term educational disadvantages.
Climate change increases risks to children’s safety and can lead to forced displacement. Between 2016 and 2021, weather-related events, intensified by climate change, resulted in 43.1 million child displacements globally. Such displacement can separate children from families, disrupt access to essential services like healthcare and education, and heighten vulnerability to exploitation or trafficking.
Supporting Children and Taking Action as a Family
Families play an important role in supporting children as they navigate climate change. Open, age-appropriate conversations allow children to express their feelings and ask questions without judgment. For young children, focusing on nature’s beauty and simple protective actions can be beneficial.
As children grow, conversations can delve into climate science, discussing concepts like carbon footprint and renewable energy. Parents can help build resilience by validating children’s concerns and fostering hope, emphasizing that collective action can lead to positive change. Limiting exposure to distressing media coverage of extreme weather is also helpful.
Engaging in family climate actions provides concrete ways for children to feel empowered. This can include reducing the household’s carbon footprint by turning off lights, using public transport, or adopting a plant-forward diet. Participating in community environmental projects, gardening, or nature walks can foster a deeper appreciation for the natural world and a desire to protect it.
Creating a safe, supportive home environment involves discussing the issue and demonstrating proactive steps. Families can advocate locally for climate action, such as encouraging schools to integrate climate education or reaching out to legislators. By combining open communication, practical actions, and shared efforts, families can help children develop coping mechanisms and agency in addressing climate challenges.
Broader Efforts to Protect Children
Protecting children from climate change requires broader, systemic efforts beyond individual family actions. International agreements and children’s rights are foundational, with organizations advocating for children’s participation in climate adaptation and decision-making. This includes ensuring children on the front lines of the climate crisis can influence local, national, and global climate policy.
Government policies are instrumental, requiring investments in climate-resilient infrastructure like schools and healthcare facilities to withstand extreme weather. Implementing early warning systems for natural disasters and ensuring continued healthcare access are other important policy considerations. Some countries develop protocols for schools during heatwaves and integrate climate and environmental education into curricula.
Community-level adaptation and preparedness programs are equally important, often involving participatory methods that incorporate local knowledge and children’s voices. These programs enhance community resilience through child-friendly disaster management training. Organizations focused on child well-being in a changing climate play a significant role, providing evidence-based research and advocating for child-centered climate action and policies.
Despite these efforts, national climate change policies worldwide often show poor planning for child health, with many countries not explicitly mentioning it. There is a need to strengthen policy design to holistically address children’s unique health risks and ensure clear targets for success. These collective, multi-sectoral efforts are necessary to build a sustainable and equitable future for children.