Putting children at the heart of climate change adaptation policies via Allyship, Bias Recognition and Child Centeredness: A global qualitative interview study

This study seeks to identify facilitators for the inclusion of child health in adaptation policies through in-depth interviews with researchers and policymakers. The authors interviewed 18 stakeholders (across 11 countries in 5 continents), representing different geographic locations and income levels, involved in writing National Adaptation Plans.

The study yielded three themes that form the ABC framework: “Attract Allies”, “Beware Biases”, and “Collaborate with Children”. Building on these findings, they explored five interconnected priorities for advancing child-centered climate change adaptation: 

1. Fostering a Children In All Policies approach as applied to climate change to ensure children’s unique vulnerabilities and needs are adequately prioritized 
2. Embedding ethical and meaningful child participation in climate change adaptation decision-making
3. Challenging institutional adultism as a barrier to participation
4. Strengthening collaborative and child-centered institutional approaches to support holistic climate change adaptation
5. Operationalizing the ABC framework to translate these principles into policy and practice.

As climate change increasingly threatens children's health and well-being, adaptation policies must move beyond recognizing children as a vulnerable population towards engaging them as legitimate stakeholders in adaptation governance. These findings demonstrate that while stakeholders widely acknowledge the importance of child participation, institutional barriers—including fragmented governance, sectoral silos, and participatory processes that often remain consultative rather than influential—continue to constrain children's ability to shape adaptation policies.