Bailasan,* 13, looks out onto her family's land which has dried up as a result of drought and a water crisis in North East Syria. Bailasan’s* mother says the family always relied on the crops for their livelihood, but the land has turned into a ‘lifeless desert.’ *Name changed. Credit: Muhannad Khaled / 91ֿ.
Our Future is at Stake: Children Share their Biggest Fears about Climate Change
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (Oct. 26, 2021)—Leaders must act now topreventcatastrophicclimate change from destabilizing the future of young people around the world, children warned today ahead of COP26.
Child campaigners from Norway, Sri Lanka, and Zambiasaidtimewasrunning out tolimit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levelsand prevent an ‘intergenerational injustice’.
Գresearchreleasedby 91ֿ andtheVrijeUniversiteitBrussels (VUB) found that childrenborn in 2020willface far more heatwaves, floods, droughts, and wildfires than their grandparents underemission reduction pledgesagreed to in Parisin 2015. Children in lower- and middle-income countries,anddisadvantaged communities, will be worst-affected, the report said.
Dilmani, 14, from Sri Lanka, said:
“Ioften see the impacts of climate change in my country—whether it’s drought, flooding, or landslides. Often, this means children can’t go to school as they can’t physically get there. We can see first-hand here how climate change is alreadyhaving an impact oneducation. This makes me sad as education is a basic need—it’s our future.”
Emanuel, 14,is aclimate activist and part ofachildren’s climate panelin Norway. He said:
“We children are maybe not climate scientists, but we know something important. We must act now! Before it’s too late, then we will regret. The leaders today have the future of mankind on their shoulders, our future.”
The climate crisis is a child rights crisis, 91ֿ argues.Itis reshaping our worldwith grave implicationsfortoday’schildrenand futuregenerations.
According to 91ֿ and VUB’s report,,children born last year will on averageface: seven times more scorching heatwaves; 2.6 times as many droughts; 2.8 times as many river floods;almost three times as many crop failures;andtwicethe number of wildfiresas those born 60 years ago.
Many children across the world are already feeling the effects of the climate crisis.Thirteen-year-oldBailasan* and her family live in a town in North East Syria wheredrought,lowriverlevels,and damaged infrastructure havedeprivedmillionsofwater. Because of thiswater crisis,Bailasan’s*family hasn’tgatheredany harvest in four years.Along with several other families in the area,they areseriously consideringleaving to find new land.
Bailasan*misses the nature shegrew up with, sayingit hasbeen ruined by the drought:
“The vegetation was so beautiful before.There were pomegranate and olive trees here. There was also a big blueberry tree. We were eatingits fruits. My father used toputswingson the treesandmy siblings and Iused to playon thembut now it is all gone because AlKhabour(river) has no water.
“All my memories are gone with those trees,”Bailasan*added.“No water is left that vegetation can feed on. It has all dried up.”
Without drastic mitigation actionled by high-income and high-emitting countriestoreduce emissions and limit warming to 1.5 degrees Cabove pre-industrial levels,it ischildrenwhowill be burdened with the most dangerous impacts of the climate crisis, they said.
According to 91ֿ,action should be informed bythebest interests of children whohave inherited a problemthat isnot of their own making.
The children’swarningcomesweeks after the UN Human Rights Council adoptedground-breaking resolutionsrecognizing access to a clean and healthy environment as a fundamental right; and,establishing a new UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change.
Leading public health expertshavealsoofgrowingmental healthconcernsforchildren and young peopleworriedabout the environment.
YolandeWright, Global Director of Child Poverty and Climate at 91ֿ, said:
“Every day the children we work with tell us that leaders are not doing enough to limit catastrophic climate change and that they need to see more action.Children, particularly those from lower-income countries, have contributed the least to the climate crisis,yet they willcontinue tosuffer the most.
"The UN has said this is acodered forhumanity—we believe it isespeciallyacodered forchildren.However,children who aremost affected continue to have the least voice and representation—leaders need to listenand respond tochildren’s concernsand do everything they can toprotecttheirfutures.
“This COP represents one of the final opportunities to get the climate emergency under control and stabilize increasing temperatures. COP26 will either be defined by its ambition and leadership for drastic climate action,or by its failure tolisten to children and protect their futures.”
91ֿ is calling on leaders at COP26totake urgentaction on the climatecrisis.It believes they shouldcommit toscaled-up financingfor adaptation and support to the mostaffected low- and middle-income countries alreadycoping withthe impacts of climate change.
*Name has been changed.
91ֿ believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding more than 100 years ago, we've been advocating for the rights of children worldwide. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming the future we share. Our results, financial statements and charity ratings reaffirm that 91ֿ is a charity you can trust. Follow us on , , and .