How is youth affected by climate change and why is this important?

Disproportionately affected

More than half of the world’s population is under 30 years old. For countries in our focus areas, this number often rises to more than 60% of the population. Besides, by 2050, almost 70% of the world’s growing population will live in urban areas, many in unplanned or informal settlements.

As a result, today’s children and future generations are more likely to be exposed to climate change risks like flooding, heat stress, water scarcity, poverty, and hunger. This has a severe effect on the mental and physical health of youth, as well as their potential to prosper.

Diverse geographical areas

While youth in affluent countries tend to experience temporary hardship from climate disaster, they often can recover fast due to their family’s ability to safely relocate and stay together, purchase food even when prices escalate, access clean water even when it’s scarce, access healthcare even when services are overstretched, and maintain education practices.

On the other hand, youth located in our focus areas more often finds themselves on an escalating downward pathway because of  the accumulation of negative effects. This results in long-term – and sometimes lifelong – deprivation of food, education, and social life more broadly. In turn, this leads to higher occurrences of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, phobias, sleep disorders, cognitive deficits, and intellectual disabilities among affected youth.

Climate related issues

If no immediate action is taken, the indicated problems will only accumulate over time. In line with the Youth at Heart principles, there is an increasing call for meaningful youth participation in climate-related issues – particularly by youth itself.

It’s true that young persons are already taking the lead worldwide in pushing for climate action. Youth movements and NGOs have created a rising wave of global awareness on climate change issues and its life threatening impacts.

It’s interesting to see the paradox which youth finds itself in when thinking about climate related issues. For example, following a UNICEF report, youth in Serbia does not necessarily feel responsible to take action on climate change, but argue that governments, polluters, and individuals should claim this responsibility.

However, they also see that the organizations they expect to take responsibility fail to do so, especially relating to governments and polluters. This results in youth itself rising to the occasion. Whether it is through strikes, marches or lawsuits, almost every week news articles are published about the efforts of young people worldwide calling for climate action – or taking it themselves.

Youth climate action

An example is the lawsuit of a group of young people in Montana, who accused state officials of violating their constitutional rights by promoting fossil fuels. One of the outcomes of the lawsuit is that a provision in the Montana’s Environmental Policy Act was considered unconstitutional, whereas it prohibited the state from considering climate impacts when permitting energy projects.

Another example is the action of young activists in Ecuador who spent a decade fighting for a citizen’s referendum to halt oil drilling on one of the most biodiverse sections of the Amazon. With almost all ballots counted, 59 percent of voters sided with the young activists. It is widely considered to be the first time a country’s citizens voted decisively to leave oil in the ground.

Meaningful youth participation

In line with the Youth at Heart principles, this shows to public and private organizations that youth should be acknowledged as one of the most important stakeholders in climate related issues. Youth has a vision for their future and – more importantly – concrete ideas on how to get there. An example of this can be found in the Netherlands, where our youth climate movement published a climate agenda for effective communication between youth and with policymakers.

However, how to best discuss climate change differs per country, culture and setting. Local climate youth are very well equipped to bridge the gap between their communities and public institutions or private parties. They can adapt technical knowledge and messages from climate science and policies, while also bringing their local knowledge towards policymakers and scientists in a concise and clear way.

Facilitate youth beyond tokenism

With youth taking a prominent position when it comes to climate action and showing creative venues for tackling climate change, representatives of (inter)national organizations might still wonder: what is the best way to approach meaningful youth participation in relation to climate?

Many useful recommendations can be found in our Meaningful Youth Participation Toolkit. Particularly in relation to climate, it means to enable youth and facilitate their ideas just like our consulate in Nigeria did.
As an organization, it is important to draw on the expertise and energy of youth, but not just for the sake of letting them feel included. It’s not a question about inclusion. In fact, thinking along these lines tends to result in tokenism.

As should be evident, youth has shown that they are very well able to generate their own mechanisms regarding climate action. Drawing on the expertise of youth and facilitating their ideas, most importantly, creates venues for climate action for organizations worldwide.

Are there ways for you to amplify the voice of the climate youth? Can you provide them with a platform to speak at one of your events? Where does youth fit in your current approaches to climate issues? Can you connect youth with local decision makers through a policy dialogue? Can you publicly support them with a statement? These are all relevant questions in relation to encapsulating the energy and ideas of climate youth.