CHILDREN’S RIGHTS, CLIMATE & THE ENVIRONMENT

• United Nations: General comment No. 26 (2023) on children’s rights and the environment with a special focus on climate change

• Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative Coalition

• Kids First Climate

• Alana Institute

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WHY ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE & CHILDREN

Climate change threatens the world that our children of today and tomorrow will be left with. From increased warming, to greater risk of negative health impacts due to environmental toxins and harms, to the further intensification of preexisting social injustices associated with global inequities. Having contributed the least to climate change, children are unjustly tasked with growing up and facing the very real consequences brought forth by generations prior. See resources below:

• American Public Health Organization (APHA):

  • Making the Connection: Climate Changes Children’s Health

  • Protecting Children’s Environmental Health

• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine:

  • National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine: Proceedings of the workshop to address future children’s environmental health priorities

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Resources:

  • EPA Resources:

    • Climate change and children’s health and well being in the United States

    • EPA and Children’s Health

    • The Office of Children’s Health and Protection (OCHP)

    • America’s Children and the Environmental Health 2022 Report

    • Environmental Justice and Screening and Mapping Tool

    • Protecting Children's Health During and After Natural Disasters: Extreme Heat 

    • Protecting Children from Extreme Heat, a perspective from an EPA Employee 

    • Reduce Heat Islands and Cool Your Community Social Media Kit 

    • Remember, never leave children alone in a parked car, even with open windows

  • EPA Partner Resources:

    • Heat and Infants and Children (CDC)

    • Heat Safety for Kids and Teens (National Weather Service) 

    • Extreme Heat Safety for babies (Español: Cuidados en los Días de Calor Extremo para bebés) (PEHSUs)

    • Extreme Heat Safety for children (Español: Cuidados en los Días de Calor Extremo para niños) (PEHSUs)

    • Extreme Heat Safety during pregnancy (Español: Cuidados en los Días de Calor Extremo durante el embarazo) (PEHSUs)

    • Extreme Heat Safety for athletes (Español: Cuidados en los Días de Calor Extremo para atletas) (PEHSUs)

• Environmental Justice:

  • The Chisholm Legacy Project: 15 Climate Impacts & 45 Black-Led Pathways to Climate Justice

  • Environmental Justice in the EPA

  • Directory of Black and Indigenous leaders in environment and climate justice

  • Greenpeace

  • Health equity

  • Diversity Data on children in the US

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

  • CDC National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network

• Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD):

  • Society for Research in Child Development: Responding to the Impacts of the Climate Crisis on Children and Youth

• Save the Children:

  • Born into the Climate Crisis

  • Vanuatu Community-Based Climate Resilience Project

• UNICEF:

  • How Gender-responsive Age-sensitive Social Protection is Related to the Climate Crisis

  • Children’s Views Art Project

  • The Climate Crisis

  • WHO-UNICEF-Lancet Commission: A future for the world’s children?

  • The Climate Crisis is a Child’s Rights Crisis

  • Declaration on Children, Youth and Climate Action

• United Nations (UN):

  • Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: The impact of climate change on the rights of a child

  • UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children: How climate change affects violence against children

• Climate & the Media:

  • NSF Design and Discovery Forum: Climate Science, Children, and the Media

  • Climate Science, Children, & the Media Forum Videos

  • Summary of the NSF Design and Discovery Forum: Climate Science, Children, and the Media

  • NSF Design & Discovery Forum: Climate Science, Children, and the Media Chat Resources

• Framing the Issues:

  • Frameworks Institute

• Migration & Climate Change:

  • Migration Policy Institute

• American Psychological Association:

  • Mental Health & Climate

• Lead Poisoning & Children:

  • UNICEF - The Toxic Truth

  • How Much Would Reducing Lead Exposure Improve Children’s Learning in the Developing World

  • Center for Global Development: How Much Would Reducing Lead Exposure Improve Children’s Learning in the Developing World?

• We Can’t Be on the Sidelines: The Role of Human Services in Advancing Environmental Justice (Mathematica and APHSA, 2022)

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EDUCATION & CLIMATE

• EPA: Schools as Cleaner Air and Cooling Centers: Tips for Facility Managers, Principals, Teachers, and Parents and Caregivers

• UNESCO: Greening education Partnership

• Global Partnership for Education

• PlanetED

• Air quality guide for schools

• Teachers for the Planet

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CITIES, CLIMATE & THE ENVIRONMENT

• National League of Cities:

  • Cities Connecting Children to Nature

  • Six “Best-Fit” Federal Funding Opportunities for Connecting Children to Nature

  • Elevating Local Climate Action

• Resilient Cities Network:

  • Connecting a city-led network

• Integrating Shade into Urban Planning

• What Cities Can Do

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EARLY CHILDHOOD ACTION

Climate change poses a greater risk to the developing child. Children are more vulnerable to harmful environmental exposures than that of adults, and climate change will further intensify pre-existing environmental risks. Developmental impacts on the child in association with climate change can have lasting impacts into their adult lives. Organizations, such as the ones listed below, focused on early childhood are starting to center children’s issues with climate change. 

• Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC):

  • ARNEC Conference 2022 closing video

  • From Most vulnerable to Most Valuable: A scoping study on putting young children at the heart of climate actions and environmental protection

• African Early Childhood Network (AfECN):

  • Action Needed to Protect the Environment for Young Children Now & For the Future Generations

  • Learning Across Continents for Young Children’s right to a clean, safe, and sustainable environment webinar recording

• Children’s Environmental Health Network:

  • About Climate Change & Children

  • Climate Change Policy Statement

• The North American Association of Environmental Education:

  • Natural Start: Promoting early environmental education

  • The Benefits of EE and Nature Connections in Early Childhood

• Other important resources:

  • Urban Institute: How Head Start Providers Can Reduce Children’s Risk from Environmental and Climate Hazards

  • Early Childhood Matters: The 2021 Climate Issue 

  • EdSource: Let's design early education facilities now to meet the challenge of climate change

  • Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness & Response: Early Childhood Disaster-Related Resources for Children and Families

  • The Low Income Investment Fund: Planning for Resilient Early Care and Education, Addressing Climate Vulnerabilities

  • Trust for Learning: Nurturing All Children in Nature

  • The Learning Future: Podcast on nurturing all children in nature

  • INEE: Promoting Climate Sensitive Early Care and Eduction in Emergencies

  • Earth Warriors

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YOUTH ACTION

The youth of today have already expressed their dismay with the trajectory of the climate crisis. From international youth-led organizations, to participation in regional specific programming aimed towards climate change awareness and education, children and youth across the world have been taking a stand. 

INTERNATIONAL YOUTH-LED ORGANIZATIONS

• Fridays for Future: Armed with the mission to “put moral pressure on policymakers, to make them listen to the scientists, and then to take forceful action to limit global warming,” Fridays for Future is a youth-led and organized global climate strike movement, born in 2018 after Greta Thunberg’s first strike. 

• Zero Hour: Zero Hour came to be in 2018, with the mission to “center the voices of diverse youth in the conversation around climate and environmental justice,” via the creation of “entry points, training, and resources for new young activists and organizers… wanting to take concrete action around climate change.” 

• Extinction Rebellion Youth: Similar to its sister organization Extinction Rebellion aiming to “use non-violent civil disobedience to fight for our future and save the environment,” Extinction Rebellion Youth holds a similar mission and is led by youth players.

• Climate Cardinals: As climate change is one that will hit all walks of life, Climate Cardinals is an international youth-led nonprofit, holding the mission to “make the climate movement more accessible to those who don’t speak English,” through climate document translation. 

• Theirworld: Theirworld’s Global Youth Ambassadors delivered a strong message to world leaders on behalf of the 175 million children under five who are missing out on crucial early childhood education. Read the full transcript of their statement via the link.

REGIONAL-SPECIFIC GROUPS

The United States

• The Climate Initiative: After being founded in Kennebunkport, Maine by three educators who saw their town’s future on the frontline of climate change, The Climate Initiative works to empower youth voices for climate action in the United States.

Caribbean 

• Caribbean girls benefit from climate change mentorship initiative: In the Caribbean, 25 young girls between the ages of 15-25 years old are slated to further understand the intersections of feminism, youth advocacy, and climate action. Through mentorships with the Girls Climate Action for Resilience & Empowerment (GirlsCARE) programme, these girls are learning how to tackle climate action with justice and women empowerment lenses. 

Africa 

• Adolescent Girls in the Climate Crisis: Voices from Zambia and Zimbabwe: In this research article, young girls in Zambia and Zimbabwe analyzed the impact that climate change has on girls’ education. Ultimately finding that school dropouts and early childhood marriages are likely to increase as a result of climate change. 

Asia 

• The First-Ever US-Korea Bilateral initiative for Youth to Address Climate Change: In May 2021, US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon-Jae-In brought forth a bilateral initiative to address climate change via a US-Korea Young Climate Activists Exchange Program. Through this program, young Koreans and Americans will spend 13 days in the countries, participating in climate focused visits, meetings and workshops.

Global

• Children’s Environment Rights Initiative: This organization is a global coalition of activists, technical experts, policymakers and young people from around the world fighting for the rights of all children to a safe and healthy environment.

YOUTH LEADERSHIP EDUCATION MATERIALS

• Plan International: This workbook entitled “Youth Leadership in Climate Policy: Turning knowledge and skills into action for climate empowerment” aims to educate, empower and assist youth in getting involved with climate policy decision making. 

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PARENT ACTION

Parents are often in the vanguard of issues facing their children.  These parent groups have emerged to give voice to the issue facing their children and families.

• Our Kids Climate: This organization works to unite parents who are committed to climate action by supporting, connecting, and amplifying climate parent organizers.

• Parents for Future: This organization is part of the For Future movement that focuses on making the climate strike movement intergenerational. 

• Moms Clean Air Force: With a community of over 1 million moms and dads across the United States, they aim to protect children from air pollution and climate change through both grassroots organizing and public policy.