Children and youth

This study examines the effectiveness of film-based interventions in climate education among middle school children in Kangra District, Himachal Pradesh, India.

In late 2025, typhoons damaged thousands of schools in Viet Nam, disrupting learning for millions. UNESCO and the Ministry of Education and Training helped communities in Cao Bang and Lang Son restore schools and prepare for future emergencies.

This report examines how extreme heat affects students, educators, families, and school systems and provides practical, evidence-informed guidance grounded in psychological science to help school communities respond.

This paper shows that heat impacts emerge from the interaction of biological differences and gendered social roles.

Peek says getting involved in age-appropriate ways can help kids process the disaster they experienced or witnessed, and it shows them the power they have to make a difference.

This snapshot examines climate-related school disruptions in 2025, finding that at least 171 million students from pre-primary to upper secondary education experienced disruption across 106 countries and territories.

Storms, floods, and heatwaves most common climate hazards causing school closures, class suspensions, and other education interruptions

Children across Europe have returned to school after a summer of extreme heat. As the climate warms, one question is becoming harder to ignore: how can students learn when classrooms become dangerously hot?

This study systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed the prevalence and risk of child malnutrition following extreme weather events in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

A team found that for every standard deviation increase marine heat wave occurrences in a 24-month period child mortality increases by 5.4 percent. Malnutrition related child wasting and child stunting also increased by 6.5 and 8.8 percent respectively.

Seattle-based study is one of the first to examine wildfire smoke risk in childcare environments by studying how providers access information, perceive risks, implement protective actions, and if preferred strategies differ from current practices.

WMO is pleased to launch the Global Integrated Flood and Drought Management Competition for Youth-Led Projects supports innovative, youth-driven ideas that address the challenges posed by floods and droughts and advance Early Warnings for All (EW4All).

Climate change arrived this summer for the beloved TV characters and landscapes of Sesame Street, in a special episode where Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and friends have to get ready for extreme weather.

More than 260 young leaders from across the Arab region participated virtually in the Regional Youth Resilience Lab.

The study finds facilitators for inclusion of child health in adaptation policies by interviewing researchers and policymakers and provides a framework to guide efforts to include children’s health needs into responsive climate change adaptation policies.

As climate hazards intensify, conventional coping measures alone can no longer ensure safe, conducive learning environments. Schools now need innovative, climate-resilient solutions that ensure continuity of education during extreme summer temperatures.

As regulations have reduced prenatal exposure to harmful emissions from vehicles and industry in recent years, smoke from climate-fueled wildfires is erasing air quality gains.

Extreme heat, smoke, floods, and storms are disrupting education across the country.

Smoky summers are the new normal forcing a generation of children to grow up indoors. Repeated smoke events change children’s daily routines, limiting opportunities for outdoor play and social interaction and reshape how many families experience summer.

As the climate warms, young athletes face growing risks of heat illness – especially in communities without air-conditioned practice spaces.

UCLA and UC Davis researchers found the strongest associations on very smoky days and in areas with cleaner air overall.

Can a board game help children understand wildfire risk? Can an escape room teach them how to respond to a chemical incident?

The review explores the direct and indirect effects of climate change on children's learning, the mechanisms driving these impacts, and the interventions that can build resilience at individual, community, and system levels.

This booklet follows the COPE Squad as they travel from their base on Mount Emei, China, to Trinidad and Tobago to judge a lightning-safety video competition, and then to Uganda for Lightning Safety Day.

Heat Smart Schools is a guidance framework by CDRI to help schools adapt to rising extreme heat risks. With over two billion children projected to face frequent heatwaves by 2050, the document emphasizes that heat threatens health, learning, and equity.

This report reveals how children’s exposure to multiple, overlapping climate hazards, inherent physical vulnerabilities, and the gaps in the social services they rely on, undermines their rights and increases their risk of harm.

Climate hazards have always occurred naturally, but human-induced global warming is changing much of the world as we know it.

Child drownings spike during heatwaves – and it’s a serious climate justice issue

The report addresses the escalating climate crisis in Southern Africa, where the region has swung from severe El Niño-driven drought in 2023-2024 to devastating La Niña floods and cyclones in 2025-2026, affecting nearly 1.9 million people.

On 29 April 2026, Vanuatu marked its first national observance of the International Day in Memory of the Victims of Earthquakes, bringing together partners to strengthen earthquake preparedness and disaster resilience.

Researchers interviewed 15 Australian primary school children aged between nine and 12-years-old about environmental change, which includes things such as pollution, climate change and deforestation.

The World Health Organization has recently published a conceptual framework on hashtag#maternal health, highlighting the importance of mitigating heat-related risks.

Researchers find ‘alarming’ effect on fertility across global species from simultaneous exposures

A study in Brazil links higher temperatures to worse nutrition measures in vulnerable children.

The theme of the fifth issue is listening to the experiences of Pakistani youth who have experienced devastating floods.

Using data from a sample of educated youth in Myanmar, this paper documents the relationship between various sources of chronic (ongoing and long-term) and acute (brief and intense) stressors with measures of hope and aspirations.

In many countries across the Northern Hemisphere, school reopens in early autumn — a time that is supposed to offer a welcome break from the intense summer heat.

Southern California’s Salton Sea was once a resort playground, with sunny beaches, celebrities and people waterskiing on the vast inland lake in the 1950s and ’60s. Today, those resorts are long gone, replaced by a drying and increasingly toxic landscape.

Exposure to extreme heat conditions is resulting in more babies being born with low birth weight, according to a new study involving Adelaide University researchers.

The article argues that climate education must include emotional resilience, as young people feel worry, powerlessness and disengagement. Supporting wellbeing, agency and meaningful action can better prepare them for a climate‑changed future.

Niue marked World Meteorological Day by launching Vagahau Niue COPE disaster-preparedness booklets to empower children and strengthen community resilience.

This special report focuses on the important role that children and youth can play in tackling urban heat and the urban heat island effect. Both top-down and bottom-up approaches are highlighted to showcase comprehensive strategies in action.