Institute of Development Studies

Missing: Children’s Perspectives in the Climate Change Debate

Marion Khamis – 8 December 2008

Children are one of the most vulnerable groups to climate change impacts – especially those living in the poorest communities. Yet they are far from being passive victims.

New research by Children in a Changing Climate, led by IDS, shows that children living in poor areas of Nepal understand the need to change their lives and the livelihoods of their families in response to climate change. Moreover, they have already started doing so and can identify the types of support they need to better cope with climate change impacts. In 2008 the Children in a Changing Climate research programme worked with ActionAid Nepal and its partner organisations to help poor children use video to document how climate change is being experienced by their communities. The children – from the plains, hills and urban areas of Nepal – have made films that explore how the changing climate is impacting them and their families, how they are coping and what they need in order to adapt to a changing climate. The participatory video research was followed up with research using focus groups and individual interviews to look at some of the issues in further detail.

The research found that climate change is having a negative impact on almost all areas of children’s lives from education, health and access to water, to their emotional wellbeing and their families’ livelihoods. More importantly, the research found that children are already taking steps to adapt to climate change, while facing severe constraints to adapt their lives more effectively.

Children participating in the project were able to identify concrete adaptation measures that could enhance their communities’ capacity to cope with climate change. These include reforestation, better agricultural technologies, improved infrastructure, increased knowledge on climate change impacts and good disaster prevention.

The results of the project are compiled in the report Child Voices: Children in Nepal Speak out on Climate Change Adaptation and a documentary made from children’s participatory videos. These present children’s experiences and perspectives in their own voices. The videos have been used by the children and local NGOs to advocate for action on climate change by their authorities.

Film and report are also bringing child voices to policy makers at national and international level. A selection of the videos made by children were compiled in the film ‘Child Voices: Children of Nepal Speak Out on Climate Change Adaptation’. The film was shown in Kathmandu on 6 December at the Youth Forum for Climate Change Awareness. The report and film are being shared with government officials formulating Nepal's National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA).

Children in a Changing Climate has also brought children’s voices to the UN Climate Change Talks in Poznan. The report was presented to the Nepalese Government Delegation at COP 14. Researcher Tamara Plush, from the Climate Change and Development Centre, introduced the film at the Development and Climate Days Film Festival and presented the research at a side event organised by the coalition (see images from the event).

Both the report and the film carry strong messages for policy makers, emphasising children’s right to be heard, children’s right to adaptation and the need to reflect children’s needs in national adaptation plans.

'We cannot escape climate change, but we need to reduce its effect on people, livestock and crops.' Santosh B.K., age 17, Bageshwori, Banke, Nepal.

Marion Khamis is Communication Officer for the Climate Change and Development Centre at IDS