A report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) indicates that climate change poses a direct threat to a child's ability to survive, grow, and thrive.

According to a UNICEF report, by 2040, it is expected that around 600 million children worldwide will be living in areas suffering from extreme water stress.

On the other hand, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that nearly 93% of the world’s children under the age of 15 (1.8 billion children) are exposed to air pollution daily, posing a significant risk to their health and development.

Thus, children are the most vulnerable to diseases that will become more widespread due to climate change, such as malaria and dengue fever. Children under the age of five bear nearly 90% of the disease burden attributable to climate change.

Effects of Climate Change on Children's Health

The causes of air pollution are the same as those causing climate change. Around two million children live in areas where air pollution levels exceed WHO standards, forcing them to breathe toxic air, which puts their health and brain development at risk.

More than half a million children under the age of five die annually from causes related to air pollution. A larger number will suffer permanent damage to their brain and lung development, according to UNICEF statistics.

Pneumonia remains the leading infectious cause of death among children under five, claiming the lives of up to 2,400 children daily.

Child deaths from pneumonia are strongly linked to malnutrition, lack of safe water and sanitation, indoor air pollution, and lack of access to healthcare — all challenges exacerbated by climate change.

A UNICEF report published at the end of 2022 stated that by 2050, almost all the world's children, numbering 2.02 billion, are expected to be exposed to the harmful effects of rising temperatures.

The same organization, in a previous report, indicated that about one billion children, roughly half of the world's 2.2 billion children, live in countries that are severely exposed to the effects of climate change.

Results of a U.S. study on pregnant women and their children show that climate change and air pollution cause significant harm to children's health and brain development, even while they are in the womb. This led researchers to call for the issue to be classified as a "public health emergency," especially for children who, due to their skin color or family income, are most affected.

Frederica Ferreira, a public health professor and a participant in the study, said that climate change and air pollution have significantly impacted brain development over the past 20 years.

She explained that research has now linked prenatal and postnatal exposure to air pollution with lower IQ scores and other cognitive problems, developmental disorders such as ADHD and autism, depression, anxiety, and even structural changes in children's brains.

Creating a More Sustainable Generation

"Climate change is happening now and will affect almost every child in the world." Under this warning, the United Nations and its relevant bodies are calling for the creation of a more sustainable generation.

Children can feel a variety of emotions about climate change, such as anxiety, fear, sadness, or anger, which are perfectly natural responses to something destructive and uncertain like climate change.

Addressing climate change may take a long time, but we can start creating a generation capable of achieving the goal of preserving the planet and making it livable. To create this generation, we must start from birth.

Achieving this goal can be done with 5 expert tips on how to engage in a conversation based on honesty and hope about climate change, without ignoring the reality and extent of the issue, with children, to establish a more sustainable generation:

Information

You can answer all the questions your child might ask about the climate, and see it as an opportunity for both of you to discover answers together. You can rely on many trusted online sources, explanatory videos, and articles that help you understand the scientific information.

Listening

Start talking to your child about climate change, figure out what they already know, and how they feel about the topic. Use your child's knowledge, no matter how simple, as an opportunity to listen to their concerns and hopes for the planet.

Give them your full attention, do not underestimate anything that worries them, and let them know they can always come to you to talk about anything.

Simple Science

Choosing age-appropriate climate information for your child is important. A good starting point is to find ways to relate climate change to your child’s daily life and work together on understanding basic facts.

Pictures, maps, and videos can help create a clearer understanding of the issue and make it more tangible.

Connecting with Nature

Try to introduce your child to nature as much as possible. Encouraging them to play outdoors helps instill a sense of enjoyment and respect for nature.

When outside with your child, take a moment to draw their attention to things that are fascinating, whether it’s a tree, a cloud, a spider web, or a bird.

This simple act of pausing and taking time to appreciate nature can help develop curiosity and admiration for the natural world. Together, plant seeds and watch something grow from nothing.

Focus on Solutions

Try to present a solution for every problem you discuss. Explore with your child examples of people working to address climate change. Discuss inspiring, positive stories you see in the news or in your local community.

Talk to the family about steps you can take as a household, such as reducing waste, conserving water, recycling materials, and turning off lights and appliances that are not in use. This helps reinforce the idea that everyone can do something to help tackle climate change.

Do Children Have a Role?

Climate experts are calling for children to be placed at the center of strategies and response plans for climate change by working with governments and partners worldwide to ensure that children are a fundamental part of climate adaptation and disaster response strategies.

Children’s involvement in issues that affect them is a fundamental right (Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child), and this can be achieved by creating platforms and climate activities where children are active participants.

Children can also play a role in addressing climate-related risks by promoting environmentally sustainable lifestyles and setting an example in their local communities.

Schools, health centers, water and sanitation facilities — and other essential services for children’s well-being — can be resilient to climate and environmental shocks. This not only improves children’s ability to withstand future shocks but also reduces the likelihood of existing inequalities being exacerbated by climate change.

Attention must be drawn specifically to the fact that building environmentally sustainable schools capable of withstanding natural disasters is among the best ways to protect children in the face of a changing climate.

Renewable energy (such as solar power) and its use to support education, like cooking school meals and charging solar-powered lamps that students take home to do their homework, provides an ideal model for sharing climate knowledge.

Kenya has seen a model example of this, supporting sustainable energy solutions. Schools have been lit using solar energy, solar-powered pumps have been provided for drought- and flood-prone communities, and a pilot social protection program using cash transfers has provided energy solutions to off-grid areas to improve education and health services for children.