India’s children are paying the price for climate change. Count them as citizens

Children are least responsible for the climate crisis, yet they suffer its most brutal effects. About 24 million children in India are impacted by climate-related emergencies every year.

A family with young children seeks refuge on an embankment in Assam’s Barpeta district after floods and river erosion destroyed their home in July 2024 | Image for representation | ANI

As we celebrate Children’s Day, we must face a harsh reality. The future of India’s vulnerable children is under unprecedented threat from climate change. From 1 January to 30 September this year, India recorded extreme weather events on 255 of the 274 days. And as these events grow ever more unpredictable in frequency and intensity, we must ask whether enough is being done to protect children, especially those who are most vulnerable. The worrying answer is: no.

Children are least responsible for the climate crisis, yet they suffer its most brutal effects. It is estimated that 24 million children in India are impacted by climate-related emergencies every year. Yet, climate change and child rights are usually siloed as separate focus areas for policymakers, civil society organisations (CSOs), philanthropic bodies, and corporate funders in India. Children are also generally lumped in as part of the family unit, and are rarely recognised as citizens and affected persons in their own right when it comes to climate change. As a result, climate policies and solutions rarely address the specific needs and requirements of children, especially the most vulnerable. This needs to change.

Our fieldwork in child protection has brought to light the myriad ways in which climate events impact vulnerable children and exacerbate existing inequities. For a vulnerable child, a heatwave means being stuck in a crowded home with poor ventilation, with no respite from extreme heat. Add to that the risk of acute dehydration, weakness, and heatstroke. And when schools are closed due to climate events, many children lose access not only to education but also to the mid-day meal programme—an important source of nutrition to many. Only a fraction of children can afford, let alone access, online learning platforms. What is worse, they are often left unsupervised at home, adding to their safety and security risks.

 

‘Education won’t help me now’

 In our work in West Bengal, we have witnessed first-hand how recurring climate disasters deepen existing vulnerabilities, forcing impoverished families to adopt dangerous coping mechanisms.

Facing loss of livelihoods and other pressures, families resort to unsafe migration, pulling their children out of school to work (at home or outside), or marrying off their daughters early. All these actions jeopardise children’s basic rights to health, nutrition, safety, and education.

Many children share harrowing stories, like Ram, 13, who has resigned himself to missing out on school.

 “My younger sister and I live with my grandparents since my parents migrated to Chennai for work after the floods. I go to school sometimes. Mostly I go out on the fishing boats. We are out on the water for many days at a time. It’s quite risky and also very tiring work. But I earn some money now and that helps my family. Education won’t help me now,” he said.

Most devastating of all are the mental health impacts of climate events. The distress of living in temporary shelters and the loss of family, familiar surroundings, and a way of life—all of this takes a heavy toll on children.

“It is very frightening when the sirens go off to tell us about the storm coming. I start to sweat. I am scared that I will have to leave my school, family and friends and go to live somewhere else,” said Kumari, 12.

Worries have only grown for Madhumita, 13, since Cyclone Amphan in 2020.

“I feel scared of going to school. We had to stay there for many days when the big storm came—Amphan. Those days were very frightening. I didn’t feel safe with so many strangers everywhere. This year we had to stay there again and I kept getting bad dreams about the last time. I don’t want to go to this school anymore. It reminds me of bad things,” she said.

 

Centring children in climate action

There is an urgent need to adopt a child-centric lens in all forms of climate action. Climate solutions and strategies must be designed to meet the needs of vulnerable groups of children, including those for whom data is scarce—trafficked children, missing children, street children, those affected by forced displacement and migration, out-of-school children, and children subjected to exploitation, violence, or abuse. No child must be left behind.

All accountable parties—governments, philanthropic bodies, industries, CSOs, and communities—must ask themselves the following questions:

1. How does their climate strategy impact the safety, health, education, and well-being of vulnerable children?
2. Has their climate strategy taken into account the lived perspectives of children and their families?
3. Could their climate strategy unintentionally increase risks or create new challenges for vulnerable children and their families?
4. Does their climate strategy ensure long-term resilience for vulnerable children and their families in the face of climate change?

Jawaharlal Nehru once said, “The children of today will make the India of tomorrow. The way we bring them up will determine the future of the country.”

If the children of today will make the India of tomorrow, we need to do better by them. We need to act now before it’s too late.

Janani Sekhar works with a child protection NGO Aangan as their Program Head on Children and Climate Action. Views are personal.

(Edited by Asavari Singh)