Young children in cities' climate action plans
Year: 2025
Type: report
Abstract: Climate change is a critical global issue that severely impacts child development. Urbanization continues to increase human exposure and exacerbate the impacts of climate-related disasters. As urban populations grow, these challenges will worsen, with children particularly vulnerable. Even with the achievement of emission reduction targets, some climate impacts will be unavoidable by the end of the century. Currently, 2.2 billion children face multiple overlapping climate and environmental threats, such as heat waves, cyclones, flooding, water scarcity, vector-borne diseases, air pollution, and lead contamination, all hindering their development and well-being. The nurturing care framework and other resources have been provided to reduce risk and build children’s resilience. However, there has been less focus on the city level, despite the population and environmental pressures they are subjected to.Building on this background and in the interest of integrating policy and planning for a solution, this report aims to assess how 12 cities projected to be most populated by 2100 planned for children, with a focus on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), early environmental and climate change education, food security, nutrition, and healthy early childhood development (ECD). This study focuses on children aged 0 to 17, with an emphasis on those in the ECD stage of 0 to 8.This report used a systematic review methodology, following the ready materials, extract data, analyze, and distil (READ) approach and thematic analysis, supported by MAXQDA software. The following cities' plans were examined: Addis Ababa, Bengaluru, Dar es Salaam, Dhaka, Dakar, Jakarta, Lagos, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, Nairobi, New York, and Tokyo. These cities are expected to have the largest populations by the end of this century and are already faced with the impact of climate-induced crisis on children.Among the twelve cities studied in this report, the findings show that only Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro included WASH planning for children. Environmental and climate change education for children was part of Dakar, Lagos, Mumbai, New York, and Tokyo's plans. None consider children’s concerns related to food security, nutrition, and healthy living. Only Lagos, Mumbai, New York, and Dakar factored into their plans the differences in opportunities and vulnerabilities among children and how to bridge the gaps for resilience building. Also, none of the cities’ plans reviewed presented that they included children's concerns obtained from them or their caregivers, which shows the pressing need for plans to be informed by children's and caregivers’ input.To support young children’s well-being and healthy development, this report recommends the following: City authorities should develop or review existing plans to accommodate children's needs for WASH, environmental and climate change education, nutrition and food security. Child-sensitive climate-resilient plans for children ages 0–3 should emphasize the development of stroller-friendly areas and accessible public spaces that guarantee safe play, access to healthcare, and other essential ECD services. For ages 3-5, safe routes for bicyclists and play-based education and exploration opportunities should be a priority. Planning for children ages 6-8 should incorporate environmental education and climate change management into school curricula that facilitate involvement in practical project implementation. City authorities should collaborate with ECD professionals to provide child-sensitive expertise throughout the planning process.Future plans should use an intersectionality lens and include children and their caregivers in child welfare research, policy, and planning processes for cities.
Author: Turay, Bashiru
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7124586337