Save the Children is alarmed that the latest draft of a global climate change agreement doesn’t include any references to children. Children are already bearing the brunt of the effects of climate change, through increases in malnutrition, disease and the number of disasters.

“It is shocking that children have been edited out of the draft text because they bear the brunt of climate change,” said Save the Children policy adviser, Lydia Baker, who is at the negotiations.

“Half the world’s population has been left out of the text. This means world leaders are only doing half a job.”

The delegates must include commitments that focus on the causes of child mortality in the poorest communities in the world.

"These discussions about the future of our planet will be a failure if children are not fully included,” said Baker. The lives of the next generation depend on Copenhagen."

Our event gets children heard

On the first day of the Copenhagen meeting, UN climate change chief Yvo de Boer began his opening address by quoting a six-year-old boy speaking about the tragic loss of his parents after a devastating cyclone in Myanmar (Burma).

At a special event to focus on how children can play a role in responding to climate change, children from Indonesia, Kenya and the UK called upon governments to listen to communities, especially children, in their efforts to reduce risks to disasters.

“Children around the world are unrepresented and we feel our voices are not heard or considered by the leaders or governments,” said Beatrice, 13, from Kenya.

The side event organised by the Children in a Changing Climate coalition, including Save the Children, on Tuesday 15 December, pushed to restore the voice and rights of children in the Copenhagen talks. Save the Children is urging world leaders to reach a deal to benefit the world’s poorest children, who will be affected by climate change. Climate change will make the diseases and conditions that cause the deaths of millions of the world’s poorest children more common.