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Climate Anxiety Rising in Schoolchildren; 89% of surveyed children in Delhi NCR worried about their future

Climate change is a threat to all forms of life on our planet but it disproportionately affects some categories of people such as women and children. Children are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change with some estimates suggesting up to 88% of the global burden of disease falls upon children. Stress from extreme weather events is also found to contribute to neuro-developmental and mental health problems in children. A child born in 2020 faces 6.8 times more heatwaves, 2.6 times more drought, 2.8 times more crop failure, and 2.8 times more river floods than a person born in 1960. According to the World Health Organization, in 2030, there could be an additional 77,000 – 131,000 deaths among children under 5 years of age, in the absence of mitigation strategies. This is noted in M S Swaminathan Research Foundation’s (MSSRF) May 2024 report, “How does climate change impact women and children across agroecological zones in India: A scoping study”.

A copy of the Photo/Chintan

A copy of the Photo/Chintan

Nidhi Jamwal

Published on:

20 Nov 2024, 6:52 pm

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“In a one-of-its-kind survey of schoolchildren from various socio-economic categories in Delhi NCR by non-profit Chintan provides unique insights into children’s perspective on climate change.”

It is in this context that a recent survey-based report, “The Future We Want: Including Children’s Perspective in the Climate Change Discourse,” by New Delhi-based non-profit Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group gains importance. Released today, November 20, it is a one-of-its-kind report on the perceptions of schoolchildren in Delhi NCR on climate change and its impacts on the health and livelihoods of their parents.

The findings of this study, which is based on interviews (both face-to-face and online) with 423 school-going children from different socio-economic categories provide unique insights. For instance, it found a high level of awareness about climate change among schoolchildren in Delhi-NCR with 83% of surveyed children saying that climate change affects health.

Further, 93% of schoolchildren believe that the planet is experiencing hotter weather; and 83% of schoolchildren from low-income households said their parents face difficulties going to work due to climate change (rising heat and erratic weather). The Chintan study also found that climate anxiety was rising as 89% of surveyed schoolchildren reported fears about climate change impacting their future.

The 423 school-going children, who are a part of this study, come from different socio-economic categories. Of the total participants, 184 schoolchildren were from low-income households (waste-picking families) and 239 from middle- and high-income households. All the children were aged between 10 and 15 years.

“Today, as we design policies to address climate change, it is imperative to realise that a ten-year-old’s childhood and adulthood are both affected by those policies. Therefore, it is crucial to include children’s perspectives in this process. We need to understand how they think, listen to their lived experiences, their concerns, and their dreams to make policies that account for their experiences,” Bharati Chaturvedi, director of Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group, said during the release of this report.

</a> <strong><em>School-children displaying paintings about climate change. Photo/Chintan</em></strong>

School-children displaying paintings about climate change. Photo/Chintan

“This report is a first step towards including children in the conversation, fostering youth leadership, and ensuring an inclusive approach to building climate resilience,” she added.

Whereas the study found an overall high awareness about climate change among schoolchildren, there is a stark asymmetry in the responses from schoolchildren from low-income, and middle and high-income households in Delhi-NCR.

For instance, while 98% of surveyed schoolchildren from middle and high-income households recognise the term “climate change”; one in four children from low-income households reported no awareness about climate change at all.

Further, 83% of schoolchildren from low-income households have stated that their parents face difficulties going to work due to climate change, as compared to 61% of schoolchildren from middle- and high-income households. This could be due to the fact that parents of most low-income children work outdoors and are directly affected by the increasingly erratic weather.

This survey was undertaken in the months of May, June, and July 2024 when the heatwaves had just ended or were still underway in several parts of north India. Almost 93% of schoolchildren believed that the planet is experiencing hotter weather currently as compared to a few years ago. The belief that the weather is becoming hotter is widely shared across socio-economic categories.

The study found that middle- and high-income household children had access to various sources of information on climate change, such as books and magazines, discussions with parents, the internet, and social media. However, low-income children rely heavily on external initiatives, such as Climate Youth Clubs run by Chintan (69% of low-income students) to learn about climate change. Almost 93% of schoolchildren from low-income households reported that they wanted to learn more about climate change.

</a> <em><strong>A photo of the “The Future We Want: Including Children’s Perspective in the Climate Change Discourse” report. Photo/Chintan</strong></em>

A photo of the “The Future We Want: Including Children’s Perspective in the Climate Change Discourse” report. Photo/Chintan

The study report “The Future We Want: Including Children’s Perspective in the Climate Change Discourse” also provides a series of recommendations as a way forward. These include introducing practice-based modules on climate education, equipping teachers with adequate knowledge and resources around climate change, equipping counsellors (in schools) and mental health professionals with new research and experiences about the impact of climate change on children and youth, etc.

(If you want a copy of the full report, please email kavya@chintan-india.org or ghazal@chintan-india.org)

*Nidhi Jamwal is an independent journalist based in Mumbai who reports on environment, climate, and rural issues.

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