How education can transform children’s anxiety into agency in the climate emergency | The BMJ

Growing evidence shows how climate change is negatively affecting children’s health and wellbeing throughout the life course. Children who were aged 10 or younger in 2020 will live in a much hotter world than their grandparents born in the 1960s: under a 1.5°C warming scenario, these children will experience climate events four times as extreme.1 Climate exacerbated disasters have disrupted the education of nearly 40 million children each year by destroying schools or causing illnesses that keep children out of school. Over the past six years, climate exacerbated disasters have led to the internal displacement of 20 000 children a day.2 More children are realising how profoundly climate change affects their right to health, education, and a safe environment—leading to multiple negative emotions often described as climate anxiety, solastalgia, or climate distress. A study of 10 000 children and young people around the world found that 59% of participants were worried about climate change, and 45% reported that their concerns negatively affected their daily functioning. These emotions are associated with feelings of betrayal due to a perceived inadequate government response and a lack of climate education, leaving them ill prepared for the future they face.3 Although 196 countries ratified the Paris Agreement in 2015 and committed to promoting and considering children’s rights when taking climate action,4 …

Growing evidence shows how climate change is negatively affecting children’s health and wellbeing throughout the life course. Children who were aged 10 or younger in 2020 will live in a much hotter world than their grandparents born in the 1960s: under a 1.5°C warming scenario, these children will experience climate events four times as extreme.1 Climate exacerbated disasters have disrupted the education of nearly 40 million children each year by destroying schools or causing illnesses that keep children out of school. Over the past six years, climate exacerbated disasters have led to the inte