In terms of climate change, those with the most power have the least to lose. Policy makers, politicians and world leaders that make decisions are generally quite mature - older - but sometimes not necessarily any the wiser. Their time on the planet and consequently concerns for it have become more limited. Children and the young comprise 30% of the world’s population. The young and future generations will be the most affected by a changing climate, but they have little say in decision making.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and Oxfam have both found children in developing nations to be malnourished by - and the most affected by - climate change. Especially in third world and developing nations, children are often tasked with jobs like getting water for the family and even scavenging for food and other useful items. They can become intimately knowledgeable and resourceful about water, shelter, sewage, and basic human needs that are changing with the changing conditions. They become problem solvers through necessity.
In the USA after Hurricane Sandy’s devastation in NY, the Rockaway Youth Task Force in Queens collected food and distributed it door-to-door to seniors and disabled residents. They quickly became the most visible aid group with cool thinking and a valuable service that garnered international attention.
Education about environmental processes and the dangers and changes expected with a changing climate should be introduced at an early age. Children should have access to the beauty of the natural world early on with their families, friends, schooling and just plain play. That way, they will develop an affinity to it and work to protect it. Then adults and other policy makers should learn to listen to them.
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/aug/15/children-climate-change-talks-unicef-report-2014
http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_74647.html