Climate change is a child rights issue
Young people know what’s at stake: their homes, their health, their safety, and their education. Around the world, children are already losing the chance to go to school because classrooms are destroyed, families are displaced, and food is harder to grow.
What makes it even harder to accept is that Pacific nations, who contribute almost nothing to global emissions, are being hit the hardest. And here in Australia, hundreds of thousands of children are expected to be directly affected by rising seas and more extreme weather.
Global leaders have been warned again and again: keeping warming below 1.5°C isn’t optional, it’s necessary to protect children.
“In decades to come, it won’t be current parliamentarian's jobs, homes and health on the line, it will be those of today's children,” said Save the Children Australia CEO Mat Tinkler. “We are pleading with the Federal Government to consider the wellbeing of our children as synonymous with the future of this nation”.
Our commitment to children impacted by climate change
We are proud to be the world’s first Green Climate Fund (GCF)-accredited development NGO, and we are playing a leading role in elevating young people’s voices, responding to their perspectives, working with them to create real solutions. Together, we are already delivering the following major projects:
- In Cambodia, South Sudan and Tonga, together with the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) we’re making classrooms safer, adding climate lessons to the curriculum, and setting up systems that warn families when disasters are coming.
- In Lao People’s Democratic Republic, we’re making health services stronger and safer during extreme weather, while supporting vulnerable communities to deal with the health challenges brought on by climate change.
- In Solomon Islands, our locally-led project will reach nearly a quarter of the population with the skills to help them adapt to more extreme weather events as the climate crisis worsens.
- In Vanuatu, we are rolling out the largest ever community-based climate adaptation program in the Pacific, helping nearly half the country’s rural families strengthen farming, fishing, and livelihoods against worsening climate impacts.
And this is just the beginning. With children leading the way, we’re committed to fighting for a safer, fairer future.
Stand with the Future Proofers
Support young people leading the fight for climate justice. Vote, spend, and live with children’s futures in mind. And help amplify their voices so decision-makers cannot ignore them.