Climate change is not only impacting the health of people all around the globe, but it is also taking a toll particularly on children. Climate change and sustainable development are about meeting the needs of the present generation while simultaneously saving for the future generation. However, the current impacts of climate change pose a threat to the very existence of the future generation as children are the hardest hit by changing weather patterns, pollution, migration and lack of resources at disposal.
Children, particularly those under five years of age, are the most vulnerable because they are sensitive, young and cannot take good care of themselves. Recently, over a 100 children died in North India due to lack of availability of oxygen. They were grappling with Japanese encephalitis. After floods in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, the lives of approximately 16 million children are deeply affected, out of which about 1.8 million children in India will be unable to go to school. A recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that every year 5,70,000 children die due to respiratory infections and 1 in every 4 children under 5 years of age die due to unhealthy environments.
In Delhi itself, eight people die of air pollution everyday. How many of these people are children is not clear till now. However, the number is definitely high. United Nations Children’s Fund report titled ‘Clean the Air for Children’, stated that children in India are at grave risk due to air pollution. Unfortunately, India is also known to have the highest number of malnourished children in the world. A huge number of children in the developing world also die of diseases, many of which are preventable.
India has repeatedly failed to save its children, to protect their physical and mental health, and to ensure a long, fruitful life. We the people of India, should be alarmed by these situations. It would be wrong to say that the government does not have resources to implement climate-change and health-related policies. It is the action plan of the government which is slow and is plagued by insensitivities of people like us. We need to participate in government initiatives and raise awareness so that the government takes effective action to protect people, and children in particular, from the adverse impacts of climate change.
The author is an environmental law scholar
