Climate change presents a multifaceted challenge, extending across generations and impacting vulnerable groups, particularly children. Previous studies have quantified children’s heightened climate susceptibility to both disasters and slower-onset climate change. However, many existing measures of children’s climate risk frame child vulnerability solely in terms of material deficits, thus oversimplifying children’s experiences.
Thaís de Carvalho from the University of East Anglia, UK, delved into the intricate and less visible experiences of children involved in seasonal migration in the floodplains of Amazonia, through a combination of participant observation with interviews. The study reveals how weather disruptions expose children to both physical and emotional distress by weakening crucial social networks and underscores the role of age and gender in determining children’s (im)mobility. It further highlights the need for increased research into age-specific vulnerabilities to climate change and advocates for child-sensitive climate programmes to address power imbalances within households and to cater to the diverse needs of impacted children.