Last month, Unicef published its first ever Children’s Climate Risk Index, in which it presented an analysis of the threat from the perspective of those who, all things being equal, will grow up to inherit the planet on which we now dwell. Not surprisingly, the report revealed that roughly one billion children, or nearly half of the world’s 2.2 billion, have faced, are facing or will face climate-related disasters in their lifetimes, which include anything from flooding to the emergence of new vector-borne diseases as a result of climate change.
In some ways, this is not new information. Because of the sheer nature of its mandate, Unicef, which to put it simply advocates for the best possible life for every child, has been offering nuances and insights into the way climate change has been affecting children for decades. For the most part, however, its reports in years gone by had different focuses.
The data gathered for this current report, titled, ‘the Climate Crisis is a Child Rights Crisis’, Unicef’s head Henrietta Fore said, paints “a complete picture of where and how children are vulnerable to climate change, and that picture is almost unimaginably dire. Climate and environmental shocks are undermining the complete spectrum of children’s rights, from access to clean air, food and safe water; to education, housing, freedom from exploitation, and even their right to survive.”
According to data from the report, while nearly every child in the world is at risk from climate and environmental hazards, at present, 240 million children are highly exposed to coastal flooding; 330 million to riverine flooding; 400 million to cyclones; 600 million to vector borne diseases; 815 million to lead pollution; 820 million to heatwaves; 920 million to water scarcity; and one billion to exceedingly high levels of air pollution. In other words, no child is safe.
However, what is worse is that for children in the most severely affected countries, these perils are multiple and overlap to the extent that they heighten deprivation. The Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau were highlighted as the countries where children were most at risk, but a clear and current example is Haiti, which was hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on August 14, followed by a tropical storm days later leaving some 2,200 people dead. Access to clean water, long an issue in that country, has become more of a trial, as well as food and shelter.
To counter the risks to children — to all of us for that matter — Unicef has added its voice to the calls for increased investment in climate adaptation and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Further, it pleads for more climate education for young people, as well as their inclusion in decision-making; and for a green recovery from Covid-19. Specifically, the report urges the UK government to recognise the climate crisis as a child rights crisis, as its title suggests, ahead of November’s COP26 summit which will be hosted in Glasgow, Scotland.
Much as they depend on adults for nurture and sustenance, children should grow up confident that governments will protect them and uphold their rights as per the 1989 UN convention which has so far been signed by some 140 countries. However, in too many instances, this expectation remains unmet.
With regard to climate change, children have to a great extent taken the lead on their own education, particularly in today’s world where information is readily available. Now 18 years old, Greta Thunberg was 15 when she began her solo protest outside the Swedish parliament, holding a sign which read “School Strike for Climate”, to pressure the government to meet carbon emissions targets. This campaign has since snowballed into a global movement called Fridays for Future, where young people in as many as 134 countries around the world stage climate strikes aimed at making the earth they are about to inherit a livable planet. In some places they are joined by adults.
That is just for starters. All around the world, mostly young people are making personal changes, as regards the way they consume food and fashion, for example, which are increasingly informing corporate repositioning in some quarters.
On July 11 and again on July 18 this newspaper featured two young women who are devoting their lives to not only caring for the environment, but also encouraging and working with their peers and children to realise goals of conservation and sustainable development. They both were born in and still live in hinterland Guyana. Michelle Kenyon, who holds a law degree is the gender focal point consultant with the Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme and Kim Spencer, a teacher at the Sand Creek Secondary School, is a senior ranger with the South Rupununi Conservation Society (SRCS) and also its secretary.
Ms Kenyon, describing her dedication to what she does, told this newspaper inter alia, “I want it to be an example to the rest of the country… [Leading to] people understanding more about conservation and what the environment means to us…” Meanwhile, Ms Spencer, who began by volunteering with the SRCS, is ensuring that she imbues her students with knowledge about the need to protect the environment and wildlife. These two young women are not the only ones, but are examples of the drive and focus of the current and upcoming generation.
While all of this is laudable, unfortunately, none of it is enough to lower the risks of environmental shocks owing to climate change. Governments have to do their part, particularly in those countries where emissions are high. Not that the rest of us can afford to sit back and watch, on the contrary, in the words of our own Martin Carter, “all are involved, all are consumed”.
