Children uprooted in a changing climate
Young people on the move are among the most impacted by climate change. They should be part of shaping the response.
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The climate is changing everywhere, and uprooted children and young people – whether living in protracted displacement, refugee camps, urban slums or booming mega cities – are among the most exposed to its impacts.
But children should not be viewed as passive bystanders in tackling the challenges posed by a changing climate. They have critical skills, experiences and ideas on how we need to better mitigate and adapt to climate change, and they must be partners in shaping solutions.
What’s at stake?
Climate change is already a direct challenge to children’s rights and well-being. One billion children – nearly half of children globally – are at ‘extremely high risk’ of its impacts. They face a deadly combination of exposure to multiple climate shocks and limited access to services that build their resilience. Three-year-olds today face a childhood of extreme weather events spiralling out of control. From wildfires to floods, droughts and hurricanes, the worst impacts of climate change will be seen in the coming decade.
Uprooted children and young people are among the most exposed to these impacts, yet they have the least resources to cope. Often excluded from resilience-building efforts, participatory planning and youth-led decision making on climate change, these children remain unheard and their potential overlooked.
Mobility – a consequence and a coping strategy
Millions of children around the world are on the move, with the impacts of both slow onset environmental degradation and sudden onset disasters contributing to mobility. In 2020 alone, there were an estimated 9.8 million weather-related internal displacements of children.
It’s already clear that even with major progress to mitigate the impacts of climate change, migration will continue to be an adaptation strategy, particularly for young people. This is especially the case where climate change impedes economic opportunities and interacts with conflict and fragility.
For young people in particular, migration can provide opportunities to pursue their aspirations, diversify their skills and contribute at their destinations. But for those most at risk of the impacts of climate change, there are often few options to move safely and legally across borders. While the majority of climate mobility is internal, migration laws are often not conducive to receiving, providing protection, or realizing the rights of environmental migrants. Many people uprooted by climate change are unlikely to meet legal definitions or other conditions for employment-based, family or humanitarian admissions to destination countries, leaving many children stranded with nowhere to go.
Children and young people as agents for change
Having adapted to climate change themselves, young people uprooted in the context of climate change have critical skills, experience and ideas needed by societies everywhere. They can play a key role in addressing climate-related risks by exercising their views, opinions and concerns, identifying and working on solutions, and promoting environmentally sustainable lifestyles – setting an example for their communities.
Call to action on climate and migration
Our success in empowering young people will depend on the choices we make today and in the coming years. Policy choices, and investment choices. The window to prepare for the impacts of climate change is closing quickly, but prioritizing the following urgent actions – developed with and for young people – could lead to better outcomes for children, their communities and countries – now and in the years to come.
- Prevent and/or minimize the risk of displacement in the context of climate change, including by taking ambitious action to reduce global emissions.
- Strengthen inclusive services and systems for children and young people who move and take measures to keep essential services running after disaster strikes.
- Prepare for climate mobility and ensure safe migration is an option for children and families affected by climate change, before they become displaced.
- Partner with young people uprooted, including by giving them a seat at the table in climate change processes.
Find out more about the actions UNICEF and partners are calling on governments and policymakers to take in the ‘Children uprooted in a changing climate’ advocacy brief:
