Folha series shows how climate crisis affects children – 11/19/2023 – Daily life

They were not responsible for the actions that led to the planet’s climate crisis, but they are the part of the population that will face its effects for the longest and most severe way. Children will inherit an erratic future in the coming decades and are already affected by the consequences of these changes.

A Sheet From this Sunday (19th) publishes the series of reports Childhood and Climate, which will show how Brazilian children’s fundamental rights are already at risk in the face of extreme weather events.

The work is supported by the “Early Childhood Reporting Fellowship” program at the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, at Columbia University, in the United States.

According to a report by Unicef ​​(United Nations Children’s Fund), Brazil has 40 million girls and boys already exposed to at least one climate or environmental risk, which corresponds to 60% of Brazilian children and adolescents. They are susceptible, for example, to heat waves, floods, landslides and droughts.

The reports will show how these events already take away children’s basic rights, such as the guarantee of family life, decent housing, access to education, health, leisure and even the right to life.

According to Unicef, the younger the child, the greater the vulnerability they face in the face of climate catastrophes. Therefore, the series of reports will focus on the consequences of these events in early childhood, the period from 0 to 6 years of age, which research points to as the main window of opportunity for global development.

In these first years of life, the brain develops more quickly and is more sensitive to care and environmental stimuli.

Interviews were carried out with children, their caregivers, teachers and experts in child development and climate change.