Early Childhood Development and Climate Change
Advocacy brief
About
The climate crisis is a child rights crisis. This is especially so for young children, especially in the first 1,000 days – a period of tremendous vulnerability and potential. Asia Pacific as a region home to 60% of the world’s young population faces an immediate crisis. UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Index highlights that approximately 1 billion children, nearly half of the world’s children live in countries classified as at extremely high risk to the impacts of climate change. 65% of children in this region face 4 or more climate and environmental shocks, as compared to the global average of 37%. This has alarming implications on possible worsening inequities in Asia Pacific.
This advocacy brief presents key arguments in advocating for early childhood development (ECD) as a climate-friendly investment, articulating the unique vulnerabilities of young children and costs of inaction while demonstrating the potential of young children as agents of change, while demonstrating ECD as a key building block in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. It showcases an overarching framework on concrete approaches in the intersections of ECD, climate change, and environmental degradation. It highlights key regional partnerships and country efforts on these urgent issues.
