Climate Change Impacts on Early Childhood Health and Development: From Evidence to Action

There is incontrovertible evidence that early childhood health and development (ECD) has long-term consequences for life-chances. Yet there is a glaring lack of rigorous research and policy action concerning impacts of climate change on childrens health and development from conception to age five, especially in the world's poorest countries.

This project aims to generate compelling evidence for effects of climate change and extreme weather on early childhood health and development in specific Asian-Pacific and African countries. We will use this evidence, engaging with stakeholders, to leverage policy change through local, regional and international mechanisms. This project has been co-created through transdisciplinary partnerships between climate scientists and ECD experts at Oxford University, UNICEF, International Center for Equity in Health, and regional early childhood networks in Asia-Pacific and Africa. We will advance the emerging science of event attribution and develop novel spatial-temporal epidemiological models to explore how climate risks affect ECD outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. 

Engaging with stakeholders in innovative ways, we will translate these findings into actionable policy, strengthen children's rights and promote equity, thereby ensuring the impacts of climate change on young children are central to the climate agenda. Our youngest children must now be seen and heard.