Ending violence against children while addressing the global climate crisis

The world is facing multiple challenges with huge impacts on humanity, requiring action from citizens, policy-makers and activists. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and169 targets demonstrate the scale and ambition of the current global agenda. Many of these issues are interconnected, as global challenges can be mutually reinforcing. However, this also means that they can be solved synergistically, with actions in one area contributing to positive results in others.

This working paper focuses on two of these critical global challenges: violence against children and climate change. The links between the two are not always obvious, but they exist and are significant in terms of both causes and solutions.

The Key messages include: 

• The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include the mitigation of both climate change and violence against children. Given the links between these two problems, actions that address both will be more effective in achieving these goals.
• Disaster risk reduction planning that considers the risks of violence against children arising from climate-related shocks will enable more responsive mechanisms to mitigate impacts on children.
• Children and adolescents are crucial agents of change in the global fight against climate change.They are also aware of the climate-related risks they face, so involving them in solutions will generate positive results.