A Climate Loss & Damage Fund Should Put Children First
“Human development is a cumulative process that starts in utero, and so the loss and damage begins early.”
Idea in Brief
The historic Loss and Damage Fund that came out of COP27 is an opportunity to incorporate the long-neglected interests of our youngest children.
By Elliot Haspel
Shutterstock image
Last month, welcome news came out of Sharm-el-Sheik in Egypt, when a historic deal was announced whereby wealthy nations responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions will compensate hard-hit poorer ones. The agreement calls for a fund to be set up over the next two years to process and distribute these funds. As the fund is established, it is critical that the long-neglected interests of our youngest children finally be front and center.
Young children are, in the words of the Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood, the “most vulnerable and most valuable” population when it comes to climate change. They are most vulnerable because nearly every impact of climate change hits them harder than any other age group. At the same time, they are most valuable both because they will be the key actors during crucial decades to come, and because efforts to help children got on to help entire societies.
Due to their unique biology, young children are vastly more susceptible to climate-enhanced air pollution, dehydration, and disease. For instance, toddlers’ bodies are made up of a higher percentage of water than teens or adults and they have both immature kidneys and a higher metabolism, all leading to a much higher risk of heat-related symptoms. The psychological impacts of natural disasters and displacements, too, are even worse on developing brains. A 2021 UNICEF study found that one billion children – disproportionately in the countries set to receive loss and damage funding – are at “extremely high risk” of negative impacts from climate change.
“Investments in these young children have value that multiplies nearly beyond measure.”
Adrián Cerezo, a researcher and Marshall Islands delegate to COP27, has written that adaptations focusing on children have “double benefits: they immediately protect the most vulnerable while fostering their long-term potential and quality of life. Education programs can make families aware of possible emergencies and help them prepare with the needs of children in mind. This doesn’t only protect lives, but also paves the way toward more sustainable social and economic development.” Cerezo also notes that supporting strong families built on stable, nurturing relationships builds overall societal resilience.
Prioritizing children would represent an important step forward. A coalition of child advocacy groups wrote coming into COP27 that, “the significant adaptation costs of social sectors on which children depend … are not currently factored into estimates of adaptation costs.” While certainly the overall environment impacts children alongside adults – for example, protecting towns from floods helps every resident – there are specific threats and opportunities that need to be addressed.
Human development is a cumulative process that starts in utero, and so the loss and damage begins early. A significant portion of the new fund, then, should be dedicated to providing resources to, reducing stressors from, and strengthening systems that support pregnant women and young children. These assets could back efforts ranging from increasing access to birthing professionals and high-quality early care and education experiences, to ensuring availability of clean water and pediatric health care, to prioritizing families with young kids for relocation assistance.
As the fund is being set up, philanthropy and national governments should be investing in research and development around these issues. Conducting pilot projects and data collection will be essential to leveraging the new fund to rapidly scale promising interventions. For instance, organizations in South America have been working to protect children from air pollution through the installation of a network of air quality monitors. The data from the monitors are then used to educate communities and develop scalable, low-cost interventions and policies. Such a project – and many others like it addressing climate change’s myriad threats to children’s well-being – could be supercharged by new resources.
While questions remain around whether wealthy nations fully make good on their Sharm-el-Sheik commitments, the Barbados climate envoy noted the agreement is indeed “a small victory for humankind.” By taking this opportunity to focus on young children, the breakthrough may end up being more: it could turn into a big victory for small humans.
Elliot Haspel is a Senior Fellow at Capita, where he focuses on the intersection of early childhood development and climate change.