Why Donors Should Care About Climate Change PDF

Climate Crisis is a Child Crisis Over the last 50 years, the East Asia and Pacific Region has witnessed: INJUSTICE TO CHILDREN Climate Emergency...

Climate Crisis is a Child Crisis Over the last 50 years, the East Asia and Pacific Region has witnessed: INJUSTICE TO CHILDREN Climate Emergency Children did nothing to cause the crisis = Children’s Children suffer the most in the crisis Emergency Children shoulder the responsibilities to find solutions Vulnerable children suffer even more during climate crisis Vulnerable children are trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty made worse by climate change  Our Approach Strengthening the Increasing child-sensitivity in sustainability of services climate policies & programmes to protect children disaster risk & recovery policies Climate- Strengthen Low carbon energy sources Government resilient vulnerable Business operations policymakers infrastructure communities Supporting young people Supporting sustainable to be climate and markets for children by environmental champions influencing markets Green skills Policy Access to affordable, Create and sustain the Education engagement sustainable products demand for such products development  Situation in Malaysia UNICEF’s 2021 Children Climate Risk Index shows children in Malaysia have “extremely high” exposure to climate and environmental shocks. Malaysia is often affected by disasters such as floods, landslides, haze and other man-made disasters.  Malaysia has the highest percentage of population exposed to floods among ASEAN member states between 2012 and 2019. Annually, floods account for the most frequent and significant damage and are responsible for significant number of human lives lost, disease epidemics, property and crop damage, and other losses. The “one hundred year” flood in December 2021 caused an estimated RM6.1 billion in financial losses. Malaysia experienced 51 significant natural disasters events in the last two decades (1998-2018). In that time period, 281 people have died, over 3 million people were affected, and caused nearly US$2 billion (MYR 8 billion) in damages. Air pollution can cause serious environmental and health hazards, including fatal diseases. Difficulty breathing is linked with respiratory diseases like asthma and bronchitis. Air pollution can also have long-term health impacts, including cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer and diabetes. Air pollution in Malaysia is seasonal and often transboundary. JOHOR In 2023, more than 20,000 families were affected by disasters in Johor with over 89,000 victims. Johor also had the most temporary evacuation centers open with 461 centers open throughout the year to accommodate disaster victims. The flood that hit Johor in 2023 was a significant increase compared to previous years. Mersing, Batu Pahat and Kota Tinggi are the three worst hit districts with flood occurrence being a yearly event.  Our Work in Malaysia Air Quality Monitoring in School(AQUAMS) Disaster Risk Reduction Youth Environment Living Lab (YELL） School Preparedness Programmes (SPP) Collaboration with Environment Protection Localizing climate narratives to address Promote awareness and a culture on Department (EPD), Education Department, the knowledge and resource gaps disaster preparedness to school and Institute of Teacher Education among local youth. students in a fun and engaging way. To collect evidence on air quality and raise Strengthening the ecosystem of actors Better understanding of school awareness on children’s right to clean air to support and hold the space for youth environment students involve in via 5 schools in Kota Kinabalu. to engage as agents of change in emergency planning. environmental policy and action.  Awareness Raising Learning through play Why do landslides occur? Exposing climate change topics to children Adolescents Engagement Magnificent Gunung Kinabalu behind a school  Air pollution is a silent killer of children 600,000 children below 5 die from air pollution every year 93% children below 15 years 450 million old breathe polluted air children in EAP live in places where air pollution exceeds the maximum exposure limit set by WHO Source: United Nations Children Fund. (2016). Clean the air for children: The impact of air pollution on children. Link. Recurring transboundary haze affected children’s health and school attendance 2,459 schools closed 1.7 million students affected  Existing air quality monitoring stations rely on consistent power supply and maintenance. Source: Department of Environment. (2023).. Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change. Air quality monitoring stations in Malaysia. Link.  AQUAMS Project Objective Mobilising youth to close the data gap and generate evidence The "Air Quality Monitoring in Schools" (AQUAMS) Project is a collaborative initiative involving the Environment Protection Department Sabah (EPD), United → To implement a collaborative, comprehensive Nations Children's Fund Malaysia (UNICEF), Kinabalu Coders, Kinabalu Makers and transparent air quality monitoring network. Sdn Bhd, and Siung Films. → To understand the impact of The project aims to establish a community-based air quality monitoring air pollution, particularly on children. programme and raise the awareness of air pollution issues as well as various environmental issues in Sabah where students and their communities can become citizen scientists: to collect real-time data, learn about air pollution and → To engage selected schools to pilot lead the way towards solutions. the programme via community-based air quality monitoring to ensure that children have the rights to clean air. It aims to raise awareness about air quality, analyze data, develop policies, and conduct capacity-building workshops. By utilizing the expertise of various partners, the project seeks to create a healthier learning environment and promote environmental consciousness within the community. This project is in line with Sabah State Policy on the Environment which states that a State-wide climate and air quality monitoring programme should be implemented, to safeguard the air quality from deteriorating due to activities within the State. Low-cost air quality monitoring sensors developed by Citizen-science approach for awareness raising local makers group Kinabalu Coders using edutainment materials developed by local media producer Siung Films Solar panel Sensors + GPS ESP32 sensor module reader + Orange Pi microcontroller Battery  In our survey, what Malaysian youth say about climate change Top 5 Barriers to taking climate action 9/10 Malaysian youth “Climate friendly lifestyle is expensive” experienced environment & climate- 92% of “I don’t have enough information or knowledge” related effects in the last 3 years. young Malaysians think that climate “My individual actions don’t make a difference” Air pollution water contamination change is a crisis “I don’t know where to start” floods drought landslides “I don’t get support from my family and friends” YELL is an innovative programme YELL’s activity to reimagine youth participation in climate and environmental action, in Malaysia. YELL’s focus is on moving youth from awareness to action, empowering young people with the knowledge, skills, and networks to address sustainability issues.  2023 Projects Funded by YELL D’Banana Craft (Video) Borneo Fertilyst (Video) Amanjaya Bioblitz Jejak Warisan (Link)  Did you know?.... Fundraising Malaysia has the highest percentage of population exposed to floods in ASEAN Transboundary haze has caused 2,500 schools to close and 1.7mil students missed out on class Elevator Pitch Can you imagine?... How will children from poor families survive yet another flood? When the family struggle to survive, how can children eat well, go to school, enjoy a wholesome childhood, develop their talent? When the family is already poor, can they afford the medical bill when children get heatstroke or asthma attack due to haze? When flood destroys the already limited infrastructure in vulnerable communities like schools, roads, clinics, farm, water supply…how do their children survive? Not everybody live in the city, what about those in remote kampungs who struggle with basic things like water, electricity, connectivity and even food supply? If both adult and children do not have disaster awareness, how can the save themselves? ie. knowing the escape routes, listen to early disaster warning, take preventive measures (unclog the drains, early signs of landslides) Therefore, climate change makes vulnerable children EVEN MORE vulnerable Trap in poverty cycle spread diseases more malnutrition cases poor mental health poor school performance child abuse loss of potential talent for the country So, donate to UNICEF to… Run programmes that educate children with disaster risk awareness. Start them young and plan ahead! Train more teachers to deliver the modules to more children, especially in remote areas Empower young people to invent creative solutions for their neighbourhood, inspire them to take up green careers or entrepreneurship in sustainable solutions Get young people involved in citizen science and help our government fill the data gap, so that policy decisions are backed by solid evidence