By Mehak Amwani and Dr Shelina Bhamani: How do we protect our young children as the climate crisis grows? What are we leaving behind for them? Are we doing enough? Will they have a world where they can live and thrive? These questions need commitment more than answers.
There is one question we rarely ask. When floods arrive or a heatwave settles over a district, what do infants, toddlers, young children, pregnant women and caregivers actually go through, and how do they experience it? We count damaged roads and blocked drains. We seldom count the frightened and at risk young child in a relief camp. That gap matters, because what happens to children in these years shapes the next generation.
The Least Responsible, the Most Exposed
Pakistan produces less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet it is among the countries most vulnerable to climate breakdown. The cruellest part? Young children in poor families have contributed almost nothing to this crisis, and they are hit hardest by it. They live through heatwaves, floods, unsafe water and poor sanitation. They go hungry. Families are displaced. Caregivers are stretched, classrooms become unusable and learning stops. Pregnant women exposed to long climate shocks face dehydration, hypertension and premature birth, putting mother and newborn at risk. Estimated, more than 1.2 million children are reported to be stunted, and food shortages have pushed chronic malnutrition higher, delaying growth and development. The 2022 floods showed us what this looks like. Approximately, thirty-three million people were affected, and more than three million children were put at risk, as maternal health services, drainage and family stability collapsed together. Pakistan has made a promise. At COP29 in Baku in November 2024, it endorsed the Declaration on Children, Youth and Climate Action, committing to include children’s needs and voices in climate planning. A promise needs a mechanism.
What Is the Early Years Climate Shield?
We propose an Early Years Climate Shield: a plan in every district to protect children from birth to eight years before, during and after a climate crisis. It brings together the sectors that shape a young child’s life, from water and sanitation, early childhood development and education to disaster management, local government and families themselves. Services in place before a disaster reduce children’s exposure to waterborne disease. When these institutions coordinate, a district can prepare in advance, act quickly and reduce its losses instead of counting them afterwards.
How the Shield Works
The shield has six layers, working at the same time. It starts by finding young children first. Districts should identify children under eight, pregnant women and children with disabilities, especially in low lying areas, and know which communities are most exposed to floods, water shortages, displacement and heat. Safe roads matter here. So do mobile signals, so separated families can find each other. Mapping comes next. Geographic information systems can show where the poorest households sit in relation to flood and heat risk, and where help must reach first.
Then climate hubs. Communities and district offices, working with government, should set up safe shelters where young children, pregnant women and caregivers can be evacuated and settled. Child spaces come fourth. Where children and pregnant women live must be clean, or families give up basics such as outdoor play. Early childhood centres and play areas need investment. Clinics, toilets and ventilation must keep running so that nutrition and immunisation continue through a crisis. Parents should know whom to turn to: community health workers, emergency responders, teachers. Caregivers carry most of this load, and they need support in return. That means guidance on managing a child’s stress, feeding and safety in the heat and in play areas, enough supplies, and training to deal with eco anxiety, their own and their children’s. Finally, follow the money. Climate budgets should be tracked to show whether funds reach young children, pregnant women and caregivers. An early year’s marker would show what share of climate finance is spent on them.