Climate change and environment A Liveable planet for every Child
Virtually every child on the planet is already affected by climate change. Natural disasters, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss can devastate agriculture, cutting children off from nutritious foods and safe water. They can lead to dangerous environments and disease outbreaks, and destroy the safe shelter, quality health care and education systems children need to survive and thrive.
As humanitarian action falls short of addressing the climate crisis, children and young people are bearing the brunt. They make up half of the world’s population but are least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and other hazardous practices harming our environment.
The climate crisis is changing children. It is robbing them of their ability to grow healthy and happy, and can ultimately cause illness, disease and even death. Efforts to sustain a liveable planet must not only account for the unique needs and vulnerabilities of young people; they must also include them in the solutions. Children and young people have critical skills, experiences and ideas for safer, more sustainable societies. They are not simply inheritors of our inaction — they are living the consequences today.
Climate action
Social programmes for children need to adapt to a changing climate. We advocate for child-centred climate adaptation, resilience-building and child-sensitive climate policies while mapping out children’s climate risk and supporting young climate champions.
Disaster risk reduction and recovery
Even before disaster strikes, children need measures that reduce their risks of harm and support a resilient recovery. We work on vulnerability mapping, multi-hazard early warning systems, comprehensive disaster-management strategies and post-disaster needs. We also help governments build their capacity to strengthen social services and infrastructure to reduce the impact of disaster.
Environmental action
Climate change and environmental degradation can be addressed for and with young people, through programmes for survival, health and well-being. We support local solutions that value biodiversity as well as nature-based solutions. We act to protect children’s health from toxic metals, chemicals, hazardous waste, air pollution and other harmful byproducts of our societies.
Sustainable energy
A brighter life for every child begins with sustainable energy. We partner with the public and private sectors to advance clean, renewable and sustainable energy solutions. That includes areas like the vaccine cold chain and programmes like solar water pumping. We help to electrify schools and health centres and to enable community-level energy access for education and social protection programmes. We also engage in green skills training, adolescent and youth mobilization, cross-sectoral advocacy and policymaking.
What we do
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