September 16, 2020
Launch Webinar on the Asia Pacific Children and Youth Consultation on Climate Crisis Report was organized on 16 September 2020 under the collaboration of Children and Youth Network in the Asia-Pacific Region that includes World Vision, Plan International, Save the Children, UNICEF, UNDRR, UN Major Group for Children and Youth, and Asia Pacific Coalition for School Safety (APCSS).
The launch released the report on Children and Youth Consultation on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Crisis, which was conducted from August 2019 to January 2020, a total of 9,681 children and youth from over 12 countries voiced out their views and opinions on climate crisis. The consultation was a collaboration of a group of partners: APCSS[1], Plan International, Save the Children, World Vision, UNICEF, UN Disaster Risk Reduction, and UN Major Group for Children and Youth. The partners came together to work on this consultation to prepare for presentation during the Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on DRR[2] in Brisbane this year. The webinar provided a platform for representatives of governments, UN agencies, and INGOs to hear children and youth voices in the report findings and directly from child and youth representatives attending the webinar. There were 131 participants in the webinar and 6 Facebook live channels. the FB as of the time of writing this article, had 2.7k views.
Some key findings of the consultations that were also elaborated in the webinar are:
- 77% of children and youth have noticed more climate-related disasters locally in the last two years.
- 99% of children and youth reported experiencing disaster risks in the past 12 months, with hydro-meteorological disasters risks (e.g. flooding, drought, typhoon/cyclone, El Niño, and La Niña accounting for over 50% of the reported experience.
- 23% reported experiencing extreme temperatures, while 30% experienced floods or more severe rainfall. A decrease in economic opportunities is also reported as a visible impact of climate change.
- Children recognise themselves as the most vulnerable during disasters followed by the elderly, people with disabilities and pregnant women.
- 45% of children and youth expressed that people with disabilities are not given enough support to prepare for disasters.
- Formal education is the top channel through which children and youth acquire knowledge about the climate crisis and DRR, followed by news and social media
Some of the key recommendations include:
- Inclusive approach to DRR and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) processes
- Strengthening education curriculum on CCA
- Mainstreaming and localising children and youth voices in climate discussions
The findings are summarised in the following infographics. To watch the video recording, please visit this link with the access code: =0F!bq5N. Read further on the presentation slides.
[1] APCSS : Asia Pacific Coalition for School Safety
[2] The Asia Ministerial Conference on DRR was originally planned for June this year in Brisbane, Australia. This event has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.