Children’s Vulnerability to Climate Change and Disaster Impacts in East Asia and the Pacific

This report provides an overview of the climate change trends andpotential impacts on children in East Asia and the Pacific that appearedin studies covering five countries that were commissioned by theUnited Nations Children’s Fund. The country studies highlight children’sspecific vulnerability to climate change that needs to be taken intoaccount in policy development. The impacts they will encounter,however, will not be uniform. Children noted a range of experiencesalready, ranging from livelihood insecurity in Mongolia to threats of sealevel rising in the Pacific Islands to massive flooding of theirneighbourhoods in the Philippines and crop failures in Indonesia. Thescientific research indicates that existing vulnerabilities will likely beexacerbated by continued climate change. Because children haveunique perspectives of their environment, they can be important actorsin enhancing community capacity to address climate-related risks.Involving children in the design of policy and designing climate changepolicies with children’s rights in mind are essential to creating policiesthat do not have unintended negative consequences.