The Young Lives Uprooted by Climate Change

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CHAPTERS 

[00:02:25]: Estimates of child displacement and data limitations 

[00:04:13]: Why children represent a large share of displaced populations 

[00:06:27]: Protection risks for children following displacement 

[00:09:30]: Disruptions to education and long-term implications 

[00:11:07]: Family separation and its effects on child well-being 

[00:13:44]: Climate finance and the allocation of resources for child-focused interventions 

[00:20:47]: Non-economic impacts, including identity, culture, and belonging 

[00:22:45]: Immobility and children in high-risk environments

TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:04.08] 

It is generally true that the people in the countries least responsible for climate change end up being exposed to some of its worst repercussions. That's particularly the case for children. Young people across the globe are growing up in a rapidly warming world that they did not create, but which they are nonetheless facing the consequences of, including being forced to move. Welcome to Changing Climate, Changing Migration. I am your host, Julian Hattem, and this is a podcast from the Migration Policy Institute that tries to understand how global warming is impacting human movement. On today's episode, we are looking at the tens of millions of children forced to move because of the impacts of climate change. These children are a particularly vulnerable population, yet they are often ignored by international organizations and governments, in part because they are too young to have a seat at the table when responses are discussed. There are also few international systems specifically designed for displaced children, and especially those forced to move by the impacts of climate change. I am speaking today with Laura Healy. Laura is a climate change migration and protection specialist with UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund. And she has spent multiple years asking and answering questions about what climate change means for children.

[00:01:26.18] 

So I am very glad that she could join us today to discuss some of the key questions. Laura, thank you so much for coming on.

[00:01:33.01] 

My pleasure, Julian. Thanks for having me.

[00:01:35.19] 

It is generally speaking difficult to tally up precisely how many people migrate or are displaced by the impacts of climate change. As you very well know, not every natural disaster is necessarily a product of human caused global warming. And climate change's impact on migration is often complex and indirect. It is complicated to parse out the degree to which natural or environmental disasters were created or worsened by human caused climate change. But it seems safe to say that the numbers of people displaced by climate change are almost certainly very large. Right, The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, just as one instance claims that people have been displaced by natural disasters somewhere between 15 and 40 something million times each year over the last decade. Of those people, how many of them are children?

[00:02:25.07] 

So, of those who are internally displaced due to weather related disasters exacerbated by climate change, research from UNICEF together with the Internal Displacement Monitoring center has shown there are more than 62 million internal displacements of children that were estimated over a seven year period between 2016 and 2023. So this is the equivalent to approximately 21,000 child displacements every day. 95% of those estimations were due to floods and storms. So sudden onset disaster displacement and then looking ahead, based on future projections, we see another 114 million child displacements could occur Due to some very specific climate related hazards due to riverine flooding, cyclonic winds, which is just part of a storm, and storm surge, which is the waves that come as a result of a storm. So really large numbers and really an underestimate because a lot of displacement data and climate related data is often not disaggregated by age. So we don't know how many children are affected, which means many children are falling through the gaps and makes it incredibly difficult for us to be able to prepare.

[00:03:48.03] 

So I do know that children, generally speaking, make up a disproportionate, disproportionately large share of all forcibly displaced people, not just those moving in response to climate change. Right. According to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, something like 40% of all forcibly displaced people in 2024 were under age 18. Why is that? What makes children particularly vulnerable to being displaced?

[00:04:13.07] 

Yes. So as you, as you say, Julian, in almost every crisis, whether it's caused by conflict, whether it's disasters, the impacts of climate change, children are disproportionately impacted. In conflict settings. Across from Ukraine, South Sudan, Syria, we consistently see that women and children together represent approximately 70 to 80% of refugee and internally displaced population. So huge numbers. And this is due to a number of different reasons. Sometimes children and women will be first to flee, while men may stay behind. Also, schools and social services and community networks are often destroyed in these contexts, which also forces many to many children and families to move. And then once displaced, children face heightened risks because it's not just the context, it's really about vulnerability. And children are often more dependent on parents making decisions or caregivers making decisions for them to move, they may be left behind. For example, when parents are moving in pursuit of livelihood opportunities where climate related impacts like droughts have really eroded livelihood, livelihoods and opportunities where they are. So we see increased vulnerability of children and then when they are displaced, heightened risks of violence, exploitation, abuse, often pushed into negative coping strategies, for example, child marriage and child labor.

[00:05:51.03] 

As a result of the resilience of families and communities really being eroded. And this pattern that we see should really be a wake up call for how we prepare for future crises. As the impacts of climate change intensify in fragile and conflict affected settings, mobility will increasingly follow these same patterns with children bearing the brunt. And so really ensuring that children are front and center and climate action and policy and investments is really critical.

[00:06:24.04] 

Talk more about that, talk more about kind of the violence and abuse and vulnerabilities that I guess children are exposed to, I guess. Why do these things emerge uniquely for children in these kind of contexts?

[00:06:37.21] 

Yeah, so in, in the aftermath of a disaster, children often experience physical and emotional distress having witnessed the destruction of, of their communities, even the loss of family members describe destruction of their homes. They may become separated from their families and caregivers, which really amplifies this risk and makes them more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Further displacement can disrupt education and health care, exposing children to malnutrition, to disease, to inadequate immunization. They might be evacuated to overcrowded shelters where there's increased risk, lack of resources. And these shelters or evacuation sites themselves may actually be in climate vulnerable areas and further at risk. They may be excluded from early warning systems and efforts to really plan and prepare for climate related disasters. But you know, despite this, we know that only 2.4% of global climate finance actually goes specifically to child focused solutions and interventions. So there is a huge gap. And I think one of the main sort of misconceptions is that focusing on children is just, you know, reaching another vulnerable group. But actually it's a strategy to build more resilient communities and stronger economies. By focusing on building the resilience around the child, we really strengthen adaptation efforts.

[00:08:09.11] 

We build resilience. It's really a resilience dividend that, that we're investing in that has broader benefits now and will do also in the future.

[00:08:19.14] 

You said several things that I want to talk about, but let's first start with the education and health component, because I think that's something that is very, that touches on a lot of things, that touches on children growing up. And resilience is that if you're an adult and you are displaced, there are ramifications that are profound but can be potentially temporary. Right. When adults, for instance, are not earning money, they have serious financial challenges. But theoretically, if the storm settles, as it were, if the waters recede, those people can go back and they can make it through that hard time and then the problem is only temporary. That is not the case though, really for education. That is not the case though really for health and immunizations. Right. You cannot just kind of push pause on your, your health, that those developmental impacts last for a long time. You cannot push pause on education. Those education hindrances, my understanding, is last for a long time, I guess. Can you talk a little bit about that? What happens to education and health when the child is relocated to the end? The, both the temporary and kind of the longer term ramifications of that, that displacement, that unsettling sure, sure.

[00:09:31.18] 

So education firstly is often one of the first things that children lose in a crisis and one of the hardest things to rebuild. As you mentioned, education systems are disrupted, schools are destroyed. Often schools are used as preemptive evacuation sites which further disrupt education and learning for many children. Also, classrooms have to absorb displaced population. Population. So maybe overcrowded teachers themselves may be displaced, have their own lives uprooted. In 2024 alone, UNICEF estimated that nearly a quarter of a billion children had their schooling disrupted due to climate related disasters. So the numbers are really, really significant. But I think also it's important to note education plays such a key role in building resilience when it comes to climate change. You know, we know that, you know, supporting climate literacy, disaster risk reduction key. Having early warning plans like schools are often key entry points to ensure that children are included. Yet then when we look at displaced populations, we know that refugee children are nearly three times more likely to be out of school than their non refugee counterparts. Which means that children who are already displaced, already on the move, are already being excluded from these critical services from education.

[00:11:03.21] 

That really helps build their resilience.

[00:11:07.03] 

You also mentioned the idea of children separated from their families. Talk about that, I guess. How does that occur and what are the ramifications of that? What happens to families who are separated?

[00:11:19.04] 

Yeah. So one of the most frightening realities we see after a disaster is children being separated from their families. They might flee with neighbors, they may end up in different shelters or evacuation sites, or they may lose contact entirely. You know, floods and storms and wildfires can really tear families apart from in moments. And a separated child or an unaccompanied child faces exponentially high risks of violence, of exploitation and of abuse. Which really means that ensuring that preemptive evacuation plans allow for children to move with their families, this is planned ahead of time, is critical as well as having rapid family tracing family reunification processes in place before a disaster strikes and focusing really in on those communities, those locations where we know the risk is the highest. Leveraging the data we have to ensure that it's those areas that are highest exposed with the least capacities to cope that we prioritize. And one particular important factor here is looking at how do we ensure the social service workforce, whether it's social workers, whether it's community based organizations, faith based organizations, those who are closest to the most vulnerable children and families, have their trust, understand the risks in the community as well as the available services, actually have the right capacities and support to provide climate and DRR and resilience building with those vulnerable communities to support multi hazard risk analyzes together with children and families in these highest risk locations and really are supported to have a seat at the table in some of the conversations at local government level and at national government level around planning for climate impacts as well as how to respond to disasters is really key in preventing family separation and ensuring that children can be reunited with their caregivers and their parents.

[00:13:24.19] 

Quickly, you mentioned the very limited amounts of climate financing that's directed towards children and the way that that could be if invested appropriately. You use this phrase resilience dividend. Explain that a little bit more. Explain both if you could, the current landscape, I guess. Why are children in particular left behind and not included often in climate in financing mechanisms to combat or respond to climate change? And why should they?

[00:13:57.15] 

Yeah, so I think there's a number of reasons why children aren't prioritized the way that they should be. The first one that we picked up on briefly before is around the lack of data that they're really data is not disaggregated. We don't know how many children are affected. The data that we do have is often estimates. And when we actually compare with actual data that's collected in specific locations, we see actually children are more affected than even the estimates are telling us. So that is one big gap. We need better data, we need to better track children as they move in order to invest in more appropriate responses and preparedness efforts. I think the second part is that children and young people often aren't given a seat at the table in these discussions around climate change, around migration, around climate mobility and the way it really impacts their lives and so really providing space for that, but working with and for children and young people who often have really amazing ideas for solutions in their own communities or inspiring action. The recent advisory opinion from the ICJ was really prompted by a movement of young people in Vanuatu that moved.

[00:15:17.09] 

Can you explain that advisory opinion real quick?

[00:15:19.16] 

Yes. So the advisory opinion really was giving a basis to show that the impacts of climate change can affect the rights of children and the rights of humans, and that it's. That it's a human rights issue that needs to be considered going forward in a way that it has not been recognized at that level previously. So it really is quite a momentous decision affecting the way things play out in future and also the way that some climate policy discussions can affect the legal outcomes. In particular around the COP negotiations where member states, where countries come together to plan the road ahead when it comes to implementing The Paris Agreement and addressing the impacts of climate change.

[00:16:12.05] 

You are, I believe, a lawyer by training. Right. That is a natural segue, I guess, to what are. Are there any legal frameworks or protections specifically about children or that mention children that come into play for children who are displaced by climate related events and what should there be? What kind of frameworks should exist if not?

[00:16:32.23] 

Yes, great question. So right now, the legal protection landscape for children on the move in the context of climate change is full of gaps. We rely on frameworks like the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which really protects the rights of children wherever they are, regardless of their migration or displacement status. Also frameworks like the Global Compact for Migration, the Global Compact on Refugees, the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, all have touch points that are really critical in terms of protecting the rights of children on the move. In the context of climate change, however, where the biggest challenges is translating these commitments, these frameworks into action at the national level, this is really the gap because we need child sensitive climate and migration policies at the national level that really guarantee children's rights to protection, to education, to health, those rights that are critical wherever they move, and also from the climate perspective. So national level climate policies, whether it's in the NDCs, the nationally determined contributions to deliver on the Paris Agreement or national adaptation plans, they need to really explicitly take into account the rights and needs of children, because they are specific in particular around the services that children rely on.

[00:18:01.23] 

So protection services, education, health, ensuring that they are climate resilient, that they're inclusive, that they are mobile and prepared to move and reach children as they're on the move, absorb displaced populations is really critical. And then really prioritizing children and young people when it comes to action, policy and investment more broadly, and giving them a seat at the table in these discussions, which have such far reaching impacts and consequences on their lives now and will also into the future.

[00:18:36.07] 

And I am inferring from the way you're talking about this that presently most national governments and most national plans do not really accommodate children or prepare for a plan for children. Is that correct or, and are there positive examples that you have seen that?

[00:18:54.19] 

Yeah, I mean, overall, that is correct. One positive example that I'll mention is the, the NDC in Cambodia, where children are taken into account quite comprehensively, including the protection of children, which is often missing in climate discussions. Often health and education are the priorities when it comes to adaptation planning. However, this protection piece and the link between climate change and increased violence against children is something that is captured in that national plan which is both sets up this accountability framework to actually deliver, but also opens opportunities for climate finance to flow towards these child specific interventions because it's anchored in that national level policy and is really reflected as a government priority, which is a really great example of how this can be done and how it can be explicitly reflected in national level climate policy.

[00:19:57.16] 

That's very interesting. I have a question about a very slightly more abstract question about what is lost for children, which is I guess about a loss of one's identity perhaps, or kind of a connection to a homeland. Adults who grow up in a place and then are forced to move away, either temporarily or permanently, still have memories, connections, physical, tangible or spiritual, whatever, connections to their homeland. But that is not necessarily the case for children, right? If you are displaced when you are very young, because what do you. They lose that cannot be qualif... Quantified or replaced or you know, to lose the, to use the language of the loss and damage world, what are kind of the, the material, the immaterial impacts that they lose? That makes sense.

[00:20:47.02] 

Yeah. So when children are uprooted, they don't just lose their homes, they often lose anchors of identity. Displacement can sever their ties to language, to community and culture, even when they're young. And these are things that really give them a sense of belonging. And I think for, for indigenous or pastoral communities, coastal children, whose traditions are really deeply tied to the land, to the sea, that loss can be really quite, quite profound. And these are some of the things that as, as you mentioned, we refer to as non economic losses. They're difficult to quantify, to measure, but deeply damaging to well being and to children's sense of belonging and to their rights. And it's a really important point around. Protecting children's right to cultural identity really must be part of adaptation and relocation planning strategies. Because rebuilding communities, that means rebuilding connection and continuity with the affected population. Also looking at what it means for preparing host populations to actually receive displaced or relocated children to maintain that connection to their home, to their culture, to their land.

[00:22:05.04] 

So we've been talking here about children who have moved, who have been displaced. But relocating is not always easy, right? Sometimes it is in fact very hard, especially in the face of climate disasters. Evacuating to safety can cost money. It can require physical endurance or social connections, et cetera. All of which I assume children may or may not have. Which is all to say, I guess, is it not the case that there were also some children who are particularly likely to be stuck in place and unable to escape disasters. What researchers, what researchers refer to as involuntarily immobile populations or trapped people. Trapped populations. Is that a risk for children too that one should be mindful of?

[00:22:46.21] 

Yes, absolutely. And this is one of the most overlooked aspects and I think it comes to the climate change narrative. When we talk about climate mobility, we picture people on the move, that millions of children are also children trapped in place, living in high risk areas, unable to leave because their families may lack the means or there aren't the legal pathways, migration pathways there available for them to do so. Children are often dependent on adults to make decisions for them. So if parents can't afford to relocate, migration routes are unsafe. Children often remain on the front lines in drought affected farmlands, shrinking coastlines or conflict torn affected communities where there's many risks to their, to their rights and well being. And this immobility can really be just as dangerous for children and present as many risks as displacement itself. When schools collapse, water sources are contaminated, health systems break down. So really leaving children behind and I think often within the context of climate change, parents or caregivers may need to move for livelihood work opportunities, leaving younger children behind as well. So that's often a common scenario that we see. And really the implications are that for financing and for action, immobility really needs to be integrated into adaptation planning along with migration.

[00:24:20.11] 

So it's really this continuum of support, supporting families, communities to adapt in place, but also providing the opportunity for safe, legal, empowering migration as an adaptation strategy for children and their families. So allowing children to move with their parents. For example, looking at scholarship, learning to earning pathways that are particularly relevant for young people in climate affected areas.

[00:24:46.09] 

Sorry, can you explain what is a learning to earning pathway? Can you explain that?

[00:24:49.18] 

So really an opportunity for a young person to gain the right skills that are needed to transition into a livelihood opportunity, into employment. So often labor mobility pathways can present this kind of opportunity. And within the context of climate change, really looking at opportunities for green skilling. So young people on the move can really contribute to climate mitigation adaptation efforts as well as transferable skills that will be relevant for them in their homes, but then also upon moving to support them to actually integrate into new communities as well.

[00:25:28.24] 

So helping children move, I guess the right way or the right with safety and kind of a path for the future.

[00:25:34.16] 

Ensuring it's a choice, it's not poison, it's a choice.

[00:25:38.24] 

That's probably going to bring us to the end of our conversation today, but this has been a really important discussion and Laura, I really want to thank you for coming on. I really appreciate it.

[00:25:47.12] 

My pleasure. Thanks so much for the opportunity.

[00:25:50.15] 

Laura Healy is a Climate Change Migration and Protection Specialist with UNICEF. This has been another episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration. Thank you so much for tuning in. Catch all of our new episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your podcast. Please also leave us a review which really helps other people find us and supports our work. You can find all of the past episodes of this podcast on MPI's website at migrationpolicy.org/podcasts. If you want more analysis about climate migration, check out a special collection of articles from our online magazine called the Migration Information Source, which I edit. That is at migrationpolicy.org/climate. Daniella Espacio produced this episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration with editorial oversight from Michelle Mittelstadt. Additional assistance came from Lisa Dixon. Our theme music is a song called Touch by Patrick Patrikios. My name is Julian Hattem. Thank you again for tuning in. See you soon.