Climate change
Children as a group are particularly vulnerable to changes in their environment. Climate change has the potential to severely impact their rights to life, health, education, water, food, shelter and culture, as well as other rights. Climate change can also impact children from an inter-generational perspective; the effects of behaviour by today’s actors will be felt by today’s children and future generations.
A selection of items on climate change and children is accessible below.
For further reports & articles on business and climate change, see the Resource Centre’s general section on climate change
Key reports & initiatives
Business must take the initiative in dealing with disaster
Lord Ashdown, UNICEF UK in Guardian (UK)
Business community can play key role in building resilience, preventing the next exreme weather from being a major disaster.
Climate change will push more children into work
Maplecroft, 1 Dec 2010
Carbon Positive: a chance to protect children affected by climate change
Paddy Ashdown, Guardian (UK), 8 April 2010
On a UNICEF initiative that “urges businesses to go beyond simply reducing their emissions and to take a lead in tackling climate change”.
Carbon Positive
UK Committee for UNICEF
Includes a Business calculator for companies wanting to become “carbon positive”.
Climate Change, Child Rights and Intergenerational Justice
Institute of Development Studies, Nov 2009
Climate change and children: A human security challenge
UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Nov 2008
’Climate change will hit vulnerable children’
Paul Eccleston, Telegraph (UK), 29 Apr 2008
Our climate, our children, our responsibility: The implications of climate change for the world’s children
UK Committee for UNICEF, 2008
Case examples
Eco-Cooking Eases Climate Change in the Third World
Cassie Ryan, Epoch Times, 18 Jun 2010
Climate change ‘could kill 400,000 children every year’
Louise Gray, Telegraph (UK), 30 Nov 2009
By 2050, 25m more children will go hungry as climate change leads to food crisis
Suzanne Goldenberg, Guardian (UK), 30 Sep 2009
Business call for action on climate change
WWF, Sep 2009
Women, children feeling effects of climate change
Cleaner (Jamaica), 2 May 2009
Beware your children: They might be ‘Climate Cops’
WorldNetDaily, 28 Jul 2008
Papua New Guinea: The World’s First Climate Change ‘Refugees’
Integrated Regional Information Networks, in Worldpress, 11 Jun 2008
Women and children considered particularly vulnerable.
Related stories and components
[PDF] Climate change and children: A human security challenge
Author: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre
The evidence presented in this review confirms the centrality of children and their unique vulnerabilities to global, national and subnational policies and frameworks on climate change and human security...A coherent, cooperative partnership between...
- Related in-depth areas: Climate change Latest news on Children
[PDF] Climate Change, Child Rights and Intergenerational Justice
Author: Institute of Development Studies
The response to climate change will profoundly affect the quality of life of future generations of children...Governments, business and individuals must reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transfer resources to support climate adaptation because they...
- Related in-depth areas: Climate change Latest news on Children
Carbon Positive [website of initiative]
Author: UK Committee for UNICEF
UNICEF is helping children adapt to climate change with skills, knowledge and tools. Children can be taught to prepare for extreme weather events, schools can be built to withstand these and rainwater harvesting can ensure children have access to...
- Related stories: Carbon Positive: a chance to protect children affected by climate change
- Related in-depth areas: Climate change Latest news on Children
Child labour most widespread in the key emerging economies – Climate change will push more children into work
Author: Maplecroft
The Child Labour Index and map, produced by global risks advisory firm Maplecroft, rates 68 countries as ‘extreme risk’ with Bangladesh, China, India, Nigeria and Pakistan amongst those with the most widespread abuses of child workers...Vulnerability...
- Related in-depth areas: Climate change Latest news on Children
Eco-Cooking Eases Climate Change in the Third World
Author: Cassie Ryan, The Epoch Times [USA]
[C]arbon-negative projects are successfully linking with local governments and the private sector to stimulate sustainable initiatives [and provide alternatives to their reliance on firewood and charcoal in third world countries]...[For example, solar...
- Related in-depth areas: Climate change Latest news on Children
Carbon Positive: a chance to protect children affected by climate change
Author: Paddy Ashdown, The Guardian [UK]
Unicef's new scheme urges businesses to go beyond simply reducing their emissions and to take a lead in tackling climate change...[F]ar away from the bright lights of the high street, in some of the most fragile communities in the world, you will find...
- Related stories: Carbon Positive: a chance to protect children affected by climate change
- Related in-depth areas: Climate change Latest news on Children
Climate change 'could kill 400,000 children every year'
Author: Louise Gray, Telegraph [Uk]
...Climate change will...make it more difficult for children to attend school in affected areas and the charity warns of a rise in child labour in countries like Bangladesh as families struggle to survive...Alora Serdous, an emergency co-ordinator for...
- Related in-depth areas: Alleged abuses Climate change
By 2050, 25m more children will go hungry as climate change leads to food crisis
Author: Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian [UK]
If global warming goes unchecked, all regions of the world will be affected, but the most vulnerable – south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa – will be hit hardest by failing crop yields, according to the report, prepared by the International Food Policy...
- Related in-depth areas: Climate change Latest news on Children
Women, children feeling effects of climate change
Author: The Gleaner [Jamaica]
The lives of women and children are particularly being affected by the growing problem of climate change [according to Jamaica's] Deputy Resident Representative of [UNDP], Akiko Fujii...Fujii pointed out that about 50 per cent of children born in...
- Related in-depth areas: Climate change Latest news on Children
Beware your children: They might be 'Climate Cops'
Author: WorldNetDaily [USA]
A new website campaign designed by a British power company recruits children through games, badges and cartoons to enlist as "Climate Cops," actively keeping records on their parents and neighbors for violations of "energy crimes" against the planet.....
- Related in-depth areas: Climate change Latest news on Children
- Related companies: npower (part of RWE)