Nepalese children speak out on climate change 

Nepalese children have a clear understanding of the impacts of climate change upon their lives. Children have a right to participate in climate change debates and adaptation programmes, and governments should listen to them.

“I think that the way we havedepleted the forest in recent years is the main reason for flooding,” arguesSoma Kumari Rokaya, a 14-year-old from Matehiya in the Banke district of Nepal.“The most important priority for me is to improve the roads and bridges in thevillage,” adds Dikisangbo Tamang, aged 13, from the same community. These childrenhave valuable opinions on what their communities need to adapt to changingweather patterns: an end to deforestation, access to agricultural technologies,better infrastructure, increased awareness of climate change and good disasterrisk reduction.

Working with partners fromActionAid Nepal, researchersfrom the project - Children in a Changing Climate - at the Institute of DevelopmentStudies in the UK,gathered children’s views on climate change. They used participatory video, focusgroups and interviews to enable children from four poor Nepalese communities toexpress their views on changing weather patterns and the possibilities foradaptation.

Nepal is particularlyvulnerable to excessive rainfall, drought, landslides and floods. Climatechange is expected to have huge impacts on water resources, hydropower,agriculture, biodiversity, forestry, health and education throughout thecountry.

The report summarises theeffects children are already experiencing on livelihoods, health, education,emotional wellbeing and access to water within their families and theircommunities. In their own words, children describe how their families arecoping through crop diversification and micro-loans, through the development offarming cooperatives, new irrigation technologies and improved drainagesystems, and by storing food and generating newbusiness opportunities. They also describe the constraints: poverty; lack ofinfrastructure; forced relocation; little access to markets; poor irrigation.

The researchers note five keypriorities for climate change adaptation amongst the children involved in thestudy:

• An end to deforestation, through tree plantingand environmental conservation programmes at the local level.
• Access to better agricultural technologies to increaseproductivity.
• Improvement of basic infrastructure: bridges sothey can attend school during floods; embankments and walls to reduceflooding and landslides.
• Better awareness of climate change impacts,through peer education and training.
• Good disaster risk reduction programmes fromlocal authorities.

The report concludes withfour key recommendations to enable governments and policymakers to upholdchildren’s rights in the context of climate change:

• Listen to children. They understand the impactsof climate change on their lives and they have a right to be heard at alllevels from their community to international climate change debates.
• Work with children on climate change adaptationmeasures to protect their rights to life, safety, participation anddevelopment.
• Offer scholarships, stipends or fee waivers toensure that families do not take children out of school as a coping strategy.
• Include the needs of children in NationalAdaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) consultations and discussions.