Futures at risk: protecting the rights of children on the move in a changing climate
This report, Futures at Risk: Protecting the Rights of Children on the Move in a Changing Climate, examines the impact of climate change-related displacement and migration on children’s access to education and health services. Children, their families and communities around the world have been displaced due to weather-related impacts, which can increase in frequency or be intensified by climate change. In 2020 alone, weather-related events – whether or not climate change-related – were linked to 30.1 million new displacements, including 9.8 million new internal displacements of children. That equates to almost 26,900 new weather related child displacements every day.
This report provides recommendations to the UK government. The UK Government should support the rights and needs of displaced and migrating children in the context of climate change by facilitating cross-sectoral collaboration through the establishment of a technical facility on climate change-related displacement and migration and child rights. This facility should comprise practitioners, experts, academics, youth, civil society, and government representatives from across the health, education, migration, and climate sectors, providing a platform to share knowledge and best practice on systems strengthening in the context of climate change-related displacement and migration. The facility should be launched at COP26, aligning with the UK Government’s priorities on adaptation and resilience.