Child-centred adaptation: Realising children’s rights in a changing climate
Children in a Changing Climate Coalition – ChildFund Alliance, Plan International, Save the Children, UNICEF, World Vision International
December 2015 :: 28 pages
Pdf: https://plan-international.org/realising-childrens-rights-changing-climate#download-options

Overview
This Children in a Changing Climate coalition report argues that children should be a focus of efforts to address climate change and play an active part in the decisions that shape their present and future.

In developing countries, climate change is projected to exacerbate the top 5 causes of death for children under 5. Children are the least responsible for creating climate change but will bear the brunt of its impacts.

The report calls on governments to commit to 6 priority actions in the implementation of their climate change commitments and highlights child-centred case studies on tackling climate change from across the world.

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Our recommendations [Excerpt from report]
The analysis that follows shows that children should be a focus of efforts to address climate change, and play an active part in the decisions that shape their present and future. Members of the Children in a Changing Climate coalition call on governments to commit to six priority actions in the implementation of their climate change commitments.

1 Recognise the unique needs and capacities of children
Child-centred approaches to adaptation are effective and should be included prominently in local and national climate change and development planning processes. existing adaptation policies, guidelines and strategies should be reviewed to ensure that children are visible, that their rights are being respected, and that the root causes of girls’ and boys’ vulnerability are addressed. Newly developed plans, including national adaptation Plans, should include child-centred approaches and ensure that children’s rights are integrated into policy implementation.

2 Engage children in adaptation decision-making, implementation and monitoring
Children are capable of developing and implementing innovative solutions to complex problems. local and national decision makers should provide the space and resources for children to contribute to adaptation actions as well as to develop their own solutions to the specific local climate change impacts that affect them. children’s views and ideas, and their right to participate in decisions that affect them, must be respected.

3. Provide children access to the global stage – and listen to them
As countries implement commitments under the UNFCCC, children should be closely engaged in the design, implementation and monitoring of actions. children’s monitoring role should include a facility through which they are able to report back to future conferences of the Parties to help the UnFccc track progress and promote cross-learning between nations.

4 Build a climate change and adaptation literate generation
Under article 6 of the UNFCCC, governments have agreed that educating, empowering and engaging all stakeholders, including children and young people, is an essential part of the response to climate change. climate change and risk reduction education helps increase the adaptive capacity of children and their communities, fosters environmental stewardship and contributes to effective adaptation actions. increasing children’s understanding of the risks of climate change empowers them to influence decisions that affect their safety and wellbeing. governments should work to integrate climate change and adaptation into school curricula and ensure teacher training programmes include up-to-date and locally-relevant climate change information..

5 Focus on the most vulnerable
Adaptation efforts should focus on the most vulnerable groups, including children. actions should be based on meaningful, gender-sensitive and inclusive consultations and participatory design processes that result in programmes that fully address the needs of the most vulnerable. adaptation funding allocations should be based on need, with more funding flowing to local level actions in particularly vulnerable communities and high-risk areas.

6 Prioritise community-based adaptation
Governments should prioritise local-level adaptation actions when framing and implementing national adaptation Plans. Adaptation needs are greatest at the local level, where vulnerable people will be most affected. to date, the majority of adaptation funding has flowed to national-level projects. it is critical that funding for community-based adaptation is significantly scaled up to address priority needs and start closing the adaptation deficit. the specific needs, rights…

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About Children in a Changing Climate Coalition
The Children in a Changing Climate (CCC) coalition is a partnership of five leading child-centred development and humanitarian organisations: ChildFund Alliance, Plan International, Save the Children, UNICEF and World Vision International. We have a commitment to share knowledge, coordinate and work with children as agents of change, in full recognition of their capacity to prepare for and respond to shocks and stressors. The mandate of the CCC coalition is to advocate for and promote the rights of children in global agreements.

As child-centred organisations, CCC coalition members believe that addressing climate change is fundamental to safeguarding children’s rights. Strong and urgent action is required if we are to ensure our children inherit a world with greater opportunities for prosperity and wellbeing. And, with serious impacts now unavoidable, we believe that child-centred adaptation should be a key component of the global response to climate change.

While many governments and development partners, including the United Nations, have worked to address climate change, children have been under-represented in multilateral and national discussions to date. This must change if we are

to enact the words contained in the post-2015 agreements and empower children to create a better world. Members of the CCC coalition will continue to work with and for children to ensure their voices are heard, their needs met and their rights and capacities to act strengthened as the world strives to address the threat of climate change.