Children and Climate Change

This specialized module introduces the theme of children and climate change, with the aim of providing a child’s perspective on how to deal with the global crisis of climate change. The module covers the ways in which children are, and can be, impacted by climate change.

It looks at how children’s resilience to climate change can be strengthened, and examines the benefits of proposed mitigation measures. It also considers solutions to this issue, focusing on the empowerment of children as actors of change and on the key role of governments in the area of child protection. Examples are provided to illustrate the concepts covered by the module.

The course module was developed and peer-reviewed by UN CC:Learn (www.uncclearn.org), in close collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

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Target Audience

The module provides clear, concise and up-to-date information for those interested in examining climate change from a child’s perspective. It is of particular interest to the following audiences:

Civil servants in national ministries, provincial departments and local authorities working in the field of climate change, children/youth and development;
Private sector managers, practitioners, and representatives of development partners active in the area of climate change and/or children’s protection;
Faculty, researchers and students; and
Citizens/youth/students.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this specialized module, participants will be able to:

Explain how climate change can affect children;
Describe how measures to build climate resilience and mitigate climate change can benefit children;
Illustrate key instruments and good practices for empowering children to act on climate change;
Identify opportunities for protecting children’s rights in a changing climate.