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Climate change has impacted everyone, but have you ever stopped to think about how it’s affecting children?
The environment has been going through challenging times, raising serious concerns. Yet little is said about how deeply children are affected by all this. As the years go by, they are increasingly having to deal with extreme events that directly impact their lives. According to a 2021 report by Save the Children, children born at the beginning of this decade will face 6.8 times more heatwaves than those born in 1960. The consequences of this are already visible—for example, earlier this year, the heat was so intense that it forced schools to close and made learning more difficult for students.
This is just one of many issues influenced by climate change. We can list several recent events that have affected thousands of children in vulnerable situations—such as the floods in Rio Grande do Sul in 2024.
Access to nature is also diminishing year by year. With the growth of urbanization and large cities, green spaces are becoming increasingly scarce. As noted by Maria Isabel, a specialist in childhood and nature at Instituto Alana: “homes have gotten smaller, access to public spaces has decreased, it has become less safe, and less common, and children have been losing opportunities to play outdoors.”
Areas of Life Most Affected
The document “Early Childhood at the Center of the Climate Crisis Response”, developed by the Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância, highlights some of the areas most affected in children’s lives due to the climate crisis. The organization outlines seven key impacts that children may face:
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Agricultural losses and food insecurity
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Increase in infectious and transmissible diseases
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Loss of housing and forced displacement
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Exposure to contaminants
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Premature death
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Reduced access to quality education and healthcare
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Toxic stress and mental health challenges
In addition, the study also shows that Black and Indigenous children, as well as those living in the North and Northeast regions of Brazil, are the most affected by the climate crisis and food insecurity. This further illustrates how structural inequalities disproportionately impact people in vulnerable situations whenever there is a global crisis.
Given the constant flow of environmental news, many children may also feel concerned about the future, leading to anxiety. As Maria Isabel explains: “Many children already report anxiety, worry, and a deep sense of anguish — both when they are experiencing extreme events and when they are exposed to the overwhelming news.”
Environmental Education
Environmental education is a right guaranteed by law to all citizens. Even though discussions about climate change have gained greater prominence in recent years, as seen in the news, the National Environmental Education Policy was established in 1999, aiming to promote an integrated understanding of the environment in its multiple and complex relationships—including ecological, psychological, legal, political, social, economic, scientific, cultural, and ethical aspects.
Environmental education also plays a key role in the process of preserving the environment, especially in the early years of school, when children are learning how to engage with the world around them. According to the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics, moments of contact with nature—whether through activities or daily interactions—are essential for children’s development.
“These experiences in childhood are fundamental to nurturing the feeling that we are part of this greater chain of life. And we need to understand that the impacts we have on nature are directly related to our own survival,” explains the specialist from Instituto Alana.
That’s why it is crucial for organizations and public authorities to remain attentive and actively strengthen initiatives for environmental protection and education.
Climate Justice and the Role of Instituto C
For Instituto C, talking about the environment is also a way of pursuing social justice and greater equality for families. During our group sessions, this is a topic we seek to raise and discuss collectively, to listen and understand how climate change directly affects their lives.
Renata Chiapetta, a social worker and one of the institute’s technical staff, explains that children can also be agents of change—if we provide them and their families with the knowledge, tools, and support they need. She also emphasizes the importance of ensuring climate justice for people living in socially vulnerable conditions.
“Social justice and climate justice are interconnected. When a mother has to choose between buying water or food for her children, between ‘saving’ furniture or making sure all her kids are safely removed from a flooded area, or between risking sending her children to a school with a damaged roof or losing a government cash benefit—that’s not just her problem, it’s our problem.”
That’s why one of our key responsibilities is to advocate for the rights of families already suffering the consequences of climate change. As Renata points out, it’s increasingly clear that children are the most affected. “Droughts, floods, extreme heat, and food insecurity are not ‘future issues’—they are current realities for many of the families we support,” she notes.
Therefore, public policies that aim to prevent or respond to these impacts are urgently needed.
Public Authorities as Agents of Change
Through the National Environmental Education Policy, several public policies were established to ensure that all Brazilians have access to environmental education—so that, together, we can build social values, knowledge, skills, attitudes, and competencies aimed at preserving the environment, which is essential for a healthy quality of life and sustainability.
Today, Bill 2225/2024 proposes the creation of a Legal Framework for Children and Nature, establishing policies and tools to ensure that all children and adolescents can connect with nature through exploration and experience. This is one of several initiatives supported by child advocacy organizations.
However, Brazil still has a long way to go. Maria Isabel notes that public policies need to go beyond prevention and also serve as a foundation for adapting to climate change. For her, schools have a vital role in both bridging the gap between children and nature and in spreading good practices related to climate adaptation.
“We need to adapt cities to these changes, because climate change is not going away anytime soon. The heat will keep intensifying, as will pollution and rainfall. We must focus on adaptation—and schools can be at the center of this effort,” she emphasizes.
