Geneva: Urgent action needed climate crisis And its impact on children’s health cannot be denied. According to the latest annual report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, 2023 could see the highest global temperatures in more than 100 000 years.
Infants under 1 year of age, who are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat, were exposed to heatwaves for 84 days annually in 2013-22, compared with 40 days in 1986-2005. In 2022, more than 27 million children will be exposed to heatwaves. Children countries worst affected by the climate crisis face severe food insecurity due to extreme weather, and UNICEF It is estimated that 739 million children were exposed to high or very high water stress. As a result, children are at increased risk of dehydration, malnutrition, life-threatening infections (e.g., dengue, malaria, vibriosis) as well as a number of other adverse health effects that have lifelong impacts on their physical and mental health and human capital.
Despite being at higher risk due to their unique anatomy, lifetime cumulative exposure and social vulnerability, children and Teenagers Youth have been largely overlooked in the climate response. Youth concerns about climate change and their leadership in activism stand in stark contrast to the way they are considered in climate-related policy, financing, media coverage and discourse. According to UNICEF, only 24 percent of major multilateral climate funds support projects that incorporate child-responsive activities. In an analysis of national climate adaptation policies from 160 countries by Kathrin Zangerl and colleagues, only five (3 percent) are taking substantial steps to incorporate child-specific measures. Most countries largely ignore (111 [69 per cent]) or outright neglect (44 [28 per cent]) Children’s needs. Where children’s needs are considered, the focus is on education, awareness raising, community engagement and nutrition, with particularly little attention paid to middle childhood (6-12 years). Notably, no country’s climate adaptation policies addressed children’s needs mental health This is a huge mismatch with adolescents’ widespread climate concern and dissatisfaction with government responses. Children are also oversimplified in these policies, often conceptualizing them as only vulnerable and in need of protection, and typically universalizing them with little consideration of age, developmental stage, gender, social roles and agency. As a result, many adaptation measures are directed at child-related actors (e.g., caregivers, teachers, health professionals) rather than empowering children’s autonomy and participation. These gaps should motivate urgent and bold action to integrate the needs of children and adolescents into the climate response. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Provides children with the right to participate in decisions that affect them. Children should therefore be seen as requiring both empowerment and protection, and as active co-producers in policy development (for example, through consultation processes, participatory frameworks, ideation and design thinking exercises and adolescent-led initiatives). Children and young people’s creativity, capabilities and agency should be respected and valued – such meaningful participation in decision-making is essential to uphold intergenerational justice, improve social cohesion and build more egalitarian communities. Adolescent involvement in climate-related policy can also be a helpful way to tackle climate anxiety, which should not be treated as pathological but instead recognised, validated and acted upon.
Time is running out and the cost of inaction is high. Years of inadequate action have pushed the world towards nearly 3°C warming and further delays in action will risk worsening every aspect of health due to climate change. Political commitment and investment are needed to accelerate progress towards moving away from fossil fuels, accelerating mitigation and delivering adaptation for health with children and adolescents at the centre. A new report from the Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) urges large-scale and urgent investments to enhance adolescents’ capabilities and well-being, with two key priorities being mental health prevention and treatment and preparedness to tackle emerging realities such as climate change. While such investments are essential, governments must not forget that fossil fuels and other health-harming industries are the root cause of children living and inheriting a poor world. They must take these warnings seriously and commit to an ambitious and resolute plan to deliver climate action that promotes health.
The challenges of the climate crisis are clear, but it is equally important to prioritise children and adolescents in countries’ climate adaptation plans. Children have the greatest stake in climate action – let us do just that, says the latest annual report from The Lancet Countdown, an international research collaboration that independently monitors the growing impacts of climate change on health and the emerging health opportunities for climate action.
(Ad Disclaimer: The above press release is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible for its contents in any way)
child-centred-climate-action-cannot-wait-lancet-countdown-report-et-healthworld
