Session 5: How do existing local, state, and national plans to address climate change include children?
Capita and This is Planet Ed (the Aspen Institute) have co-convened the Early Years Climate Action Task Force to draft the first-ever U.S. Early Years Climate Action Plan. The plan will recommend ways the country can help young children, ages 0 to 8, flourish in the face of climate change. It will be published in late 2023.
Climate change is a direct threat to our children’s health, safety, and ability to flourish. Yet experts in child development and climate have been slow to join forces to address this crisis. We are proud to bring together experts from both worlds to share, learn, and unite their efforts.
This listening session, the fifth of 6, explored ways that climate plans are addressing the needs of young children. After presentations from four expert panelists, the session opened up for questions.
The experts:
Adam Freed, Bloomberg Associates
Joel Moffett, Native Americans in Philanthropy
Marta Segura, City of Los Angeles
Heather McTeer Toney, Environmental Defense Fund
Climate change affects children and communities in myriad, interconnected ways. The most vulnerable and disadvantaged children suffer most
Sea level rise. Warming waters. Habitat loss. Heatwaves. Severe weather. Flooding. Wildfires. Panelists referenced many results of climate change and discussed their disproportionate impacts on children. Children with preexisting health conditions are at disproportionate risk; so are those from disadvantaged communities, which are often burdened with pollution and ill equipped for hotter heat waves and inclement weather. For instance, poor air quality is a significant risk to young children, especially those under five. Black and brown children are 6 times more likely to go to the emergency room for pollution-related asthma and they are more likely to suffer extreme illness and even death from that asthma.
The impacts and challenges of climate change overlap and compound. Extreme heat worsens the effects of air pollution. People are often advised to stay indoors during heatwaves, but many homes in disadvantaged areas lack air conditioning and do not provide relief from the heat. Poor air quality indoors is also a threat. Panelists mentioned gas stoves and their impact on asthma, as well as the prevalence of woodburning stoves in many areas of Indian country.
Panelists also stressed the connections between climate impacts and social, justice, and other issues. “In communities of color, in particular, the issues cannot be siloed,” Toney said. “We can’t talk about the impacts of climate change without addressing coinciding justice concerns like housing, health care, education, and violence.” Areas that suffer from historic disinvestment or high levels of pollution have higher rates of 911 calls, ER visits, and mortality. When flooding, wildfires, or other climate impacts close schools, children suffer because their education is disrupted, but so do their families, who suffer cascading effects: missed work, lower income, food insecurity.
Panelists offered several examples. Moffatt discussed effects on families and communities in Indian country. For instance, rising waters have forced some tribes to relocate. In the Pacific Northwest, salmon—essential both to tribes’ diets and their culture—are threatened by rising water temperatures. Segurra discussed the disproportionate impact of extreme heat on pollution-burdened areas of Los Angeles, such as the Wilmington neighborhood, the country’s second-largest refinery region. Toney described how heavy rainfall overwhelmed the crumbling water infrastructure of Jackson, Mississippi, leaving most of the city without running water for days. Freezing weather—which, like heat, will continue to increase in parts of the country—broke pipes over the December 2022 holiday season, leading to a two-week boil-water notice (one of hundreds the city has recently experienced).
Reducing carbon emissions and adapting to climate change will disproportionately benefit children
Freed noted that our choices on the built environment and our continued reliance on fossil fuels are “accelerating and exacerbating the impacts of climate change on very young children.” But it is in our power to make different choices, and many cities are doing so.
In addition, the disproportionate impact of climate change on children means that many of those choices will have disproportionate benefits for them as well. Reducing carbon emissions and adopting adaptation measures can help address systemic inequity built into our urban forms as a result of redlining and other discriminatory policies.
New federal initiatives may help disadvantaged communities better respond to climate change.
Toney noted the potential of several U.S. federal programs to move billions of dollars into disadvantaged communities. The Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure law) offer funding and incentives that can support an array of climate-protective policies. In addition, the Justice40 Initiative aims to provide 40% of certain federal investments to marginalized and underserved communities overburdened by pollution. Segura noted the desire of Los Angeles and California as a whole to model how to invest this funding in the most historically disinvested communities.
Reforms in practice: cities across the world have already launched programs to protect young children from the impacts of climate change
Freed discussed urban programs designed to limit the impacts of climate change on very young children by improving air quality, planting trees, and providing cool spaces.
London, Brussels, and New York City have launched extensive street-level air quality monitoring programs—not on rooftops, but at the places where children are exposed. London is using data generated by its street-level air quality monitoring networks (one of the world’s most extensive) to expand the city’s ultralow-emission zone, which fines polluting vehicles and has dramatically reduced pollution levels in the city center. The expansion will bring clean air to 5 million more people. A monitoring system in New York revealed that a type of heavy heating oil used in just 1% of the city’s building stock generated more of a particularly dangerous form of particle pollution than all cars and trucks in the city combined. The city banned heavy heating oil in buildings, helping lead to the cleanest air quality in more than 50 years. In just three years, the city’s Clean Heat program prevented 800 deaths and 2000 emergency room visits and hospitalizations a year. Milan is installing low-cost air quality monitors at schools across city to track the pollution that children are exposed to. It is also introducing an air quality and climate curriculum.
In London, the mayor and water utility partnered to make 100 schools more resilient to the impacts of climate change and to teach children about adaptation. Schools were selected in areas of the city most exposed to heat and flood risks and with high concentrations of vulnerable populations, which they defined as children under five.
The indoors—where people spend 90% of their time—is also receiving attention. Freed noted findings on the relationship between gas stoves and childhood asthma. San Francisco and Berkeley, California; New York; and other cities are banning fossil fuels in new buildings.
Cities are also increasing greenery, which not only improves air quality, cools neighborhoods, and helps absorb rainfall, but also provides many mental and public health benefits for young children. Many cities are using data to target where they plant trees. For instance, Root Nashville, a public-private partnership to plant 500,000 trees across the county, prioritizes neighborhoods where new trees can provide the biggest benefits, looking at areas with low tree canopy coverage, high rates of respiratory disease, high daytime average temperatures, lower incomes, and a high density of children under five. Our Roots Chicago prioritizes historically marginalized and underserved communities, using indicators including high concentrations of children to target new plantings.
Schoolyards, which are often covered in heat-retaining asphalt, are also being converted to greener, shadier spaces. New York turned 240 playgrounds that had been closed to the public after school and on weekends into community playgrounds, reducing climate risks while bringing hundreds of thousands of residents within a ten-minute walk of a park. In Paris, the OASIS program focused on responding to heatwaves; it used data to target schoolyard conversions to the hottest parts of the city with high concentrations of young children, among other factors. The program has converted more than 100 schools into community cooling infrastructure.
Segurra discussed efforts in Los Angeles. Last year the city passed a new-building decarbonization policy that will electrify buildings and eliminate gas lines. The city council is contemplating a decarbonization ordinance for existing buildings, to phase in healthier home for the most pollution-burdened and lowest-income areas. It is exploring ways to implement such a policy without causing displacement, high utility bills, or other unintended consequences that some other cities have experienced.
She also discussed efforts to prioritize children’s needs and equity issues in emergency response planning in LA County. During emergency preparations, department heads (police, fire, etc.) are typically asked simply “Are you ready?” She and her colleagues are trying to change this process so it begins by considering vulnerable areas and disparities and defining where resources must be increased. “We flip the analysis—we put health equity and children first—and then we decide how to deploy those resources.”
Data on climate and children is improving, but there are still gaps
Monitoring and other programs are providing valuable new data on climate impacts and children. And many areas are taking a data-driven approach to mitigation and resilience. But there are still gaps. For instance, Moffat noted that many tribes lack baseline data on climate impacts and that where studies exist, they may not focus on early childhood.
Authorities are often unaware of all the early childhood facilities in their jurisdictions because many operate out of homes or are unlicensed. “It is a spotty system in terms of how available and thorough the data is,” Freed said. This situation can affect safety (if emergency services don’t know where young children are being cared for). It can also limit access to the new federal funds beginning to flow through communities.
Segura explained that her department and LA’s health and human services department have been discussing ways to inform and train medical professionals on pollution, health disparities, extreme heat, and adverse weather impacts so they can better prevent hospitalizations and death. The city does not yet have enough training or fast-enough access to this data.
Segura also noted that the City of Los Angeles will be conducting a climate vulnerability assessment, which will include all areas of social vulnerability and identify sensitive areas such as child care centers. This will be the first time LA conducts such an assessment. She does not believe it is common practice. (LA county conducted a similar assessment that was not granular enough for the city’s needs.)
Toney pointed out that to understand what kind of data is missing, it’s important to consider that the experience of early childhood varies across cultures. For instance, in many Black communities, distrust of hospitals runs high. Many Black women have avoided giving birth in hospitals. In those communities, hospitals would not be a natural entry point for collecting data. She also noted the importance of diversity on both sides of the process: providing data and collecting it.
Panelists also noted the incredible diversity of communities and the need to avoid generalizations.
Data is important but it is not enough. Strong narratives and political will are also crucial
Data is important but it has limits. A moderator asked Freed if he had ever presented data that failed to change an audience’s perspective. “Sadly, all the time.”
Data alone “will not win the day,” he stressed. “How do you pull it together, how do you craft the narrative on it, how do you get the right information at the right time?” Storytelling must be part of the process. It’s important to find “captivating data.” Freed gave the example of an air quality monitor on the US embassy in Beijing, which tweeted out information on particulate matter. That single piece of data was enough to spur action—a mass of studies was not needed. He also stressed the need to show connections between climate and economic and other impacts: for instance, how a heat advisory leads to closed schools, causing parents to miss work and lose wages.
But there must also be the right incentive. Freed underscored the need for political will: the desire and willingness to actually drive change. A task force member agreed, describing this as a "climate change of heart": political leaders acknowledging “that we all need to start caring a little bit more about ‘other people's children.’" Targeting resources to address disparities—critical to preparing for and responding to climate change—has become politically polarizing. So building political will for bold climate action is a difficult but essential part of the strategy for protecting children.
Engage, consult, and partner with many parties. “Communities are the subject matter experts”
According to Toney, “When it comes to children, the health of those children, the impacts of pollution to those children, communities are the subject matter experts.” That includes parents, guardians, or families as they are described by the community—in other words, not necessarily the standard nuclear family, but anyone caring for children. For resources to have the most impact in the places that need it most, we must listen to the community.
Segurra noted that LA’s Climate Emergency Mobilization Office integrates the voices of youth and native, Black, brown, Asian and other diverse groups overrepresented in pollution-burdened areas. Engaging these varied stakeholders is part of its governance model. It uses focus groups, surveys, polls, workshops, and research to ensure that their testimony and advice are reflected in the reports that go to the city council. Moffatt noted that many tribal climate adaptation, mitigation, and action plans have “robust engagement, ” including outreach villages and towns and one-on-one interviews.
Partnering with a range of stakeholders is a moral imperative—it’s the way to create equitable and inclusive climate action plans. It’s a way to “make change with communities, not to communities” as Freed put it.
But partnerships are also a practical necessity. The climate crisis is huge and it demands a huge response. “The scale of change that’s needed in cities is far too vast for cities to do it alone,” Freed said. It requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. Governments at all levels using federal funding must join forces with community groups, the private sector, and nonprofits. He pointed out that many of the urban programs he had described were public-private partnerships. They can move faster and can last beyond a single mayoral administration. Community support can ensure long-term sustainability.
Toney noted that school systems, law enforcement, and faith communities are key partners. All have frequent contact with children and are often involved in emergency responses. Schools are places where children spend huge amounts of time and interact with many adults. They are usually a part of emergency response plans (for instance, school buses might be used to transport people who need to evacuate). Law enforcement can help connect advocates to the youth court system and help them better understand where to look for children during an emergency response, for instance. Faith communities have strong ties to children and their parents and have good networks. They are the places that community members often turn to during emergencies.