Living on the Edge: Young People, Social Work and Climate Policy and Action
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58671/aswj.v12i1.78Keywords:
climate action, climate change, climate crisis, young people, social work education, empowermentAbstract
Today’s young people will be on the frontline of experiencing the worst effects of the climate crisis as they age in
a world in which climate-induced disasters will be increasing in intensity and frequency unless ‘net zero’ is reached
before the current deadline of 2050. The case for urgently addressing the climate crisis by 2030 has been made
by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since the Paris Agreement in 2015. Years later, and
with the disappointing outcomes of the 2021 United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Conference of the Parties (COP) 26 meeting in Glasgow, Scotland and COP27 in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt in 2022,
little has changed. Politicians fill the airwaves with fine words about reaching ‘net zero’. Meanwhile, countries like
India, the 3rd largest polluter do not aim to meet ‘net zero’ until 2070! Young people have limited engagement in
formal policy-making locally, nationally, and globally, so their voices remain largely ignored. Practitioners, seldom
engage young people in climate action. This professional disinterest in young people’s experiences of the climate
crisis and aspirations for a net zero future must end. This article focuses on young people’s voices, research and
action, including their involvement in COP26 activities in Glasgow. Young people, as agentic persons, can make
decisions about climate change, and are well-placed to do this if given the opportunity. Social workers can support
and mobilise young people in climate action and demand that climate change be included in the social work
curriculum.
References
Alva Academy (2021) Alva Academy at COP26 by David Clifford, on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY-CmFZmxEw
Carrington, D. (2023) UK ‘strikingly unprepared’ for impacts of climate crisis, The Guardian, 29 March. On https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/29/uk-strikingly-unprepared-impacts-climate-crisis
CDP (Center for Disasteer Philanthropy) (2023) 2022 Pakistan Floods. On https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disasters/2022-pakistan-floods/#:~:text=Pakistan's%202022%20monsoon%20season%20produced,approximately%2015%25%20of%20its%20population
Chan, S., Singh, S., Chang, K., Tailor, P., Joshi, M., Mohan, M., & Amponsem, J. (2021) Young People and Drivers and Barriers to Climate Adaptation Action. Report. Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), Centre for Environment Education (CEE), Kai Analytics, Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), Rotterdam, Ahmedabad, Vancouver, Copenhagen. On https://gca.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Young-People-and-Drivers-and-Barriers-to-Climate-Adaptation-Action.pdf
Connon, I., & Dominelli, L. (2021) UNICEF Children’s Climate Change Risk Index Project (CCRI), Systematic Review of the Academic Literature. Edinburgh: Children Data Collective and UNICEF.
Cunsolo, A.,& Ellis, N. (2018) Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss, Nature, Climate Change, 8: 275–281. On https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0092-2
ECO2 COP27 (2022) ECO2 COP27 Conference, Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. On https://eco2smartschools.org.uk/eco2cop27schoolsclimateconference/
Friends of the Earth Scotland (FoES) (2022) Young Friends of the Earth Scotland. On
https://foe.scot/get-involved/young-friends-earth-scotland/
Hasegawa, K. (2022) Fridays for Future: A Social Movements Perspective, Global Dialogue. 12(3): 28-30. On https://globaldialogue.isa-sociology.org/uploads/imgen/3294-v12i3-english.pdf
Hermann, B. (2022) Climate Change and the Military: Examining the Pentagon’s Integration of National Security Interests and Environmental Goals under Clinton, National Security Archive, Briefing Book #: 794. On https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/environmental-diplomacy/2022-05-26/climate-change-and-military-examining-pentagons
IFRC (2022) Come Health or High Water: Tackling the humanitarian impacts of the climate crisis together The World Disaster Report 2020.
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2012) Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. On https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/SREX_Full_Report-1.pdf
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2015) Fifth Assessment Report. Geneva: IPCC. On https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar5/
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2018) Global Warming of 1.5°C: Special Report. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. On https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/SR15_Full_Report_HR.pdf
SG (Scottish Government) (2021) Open Government action plan 2021 to 2025 - commitment 4: climate change. On https://www.gov.scot/publications/open-government-action-plan-2021-to-2025-commitment-4-climate-change/#:~:text=The%20Scottish%20Government%20has%20set,for%20all%20people%20across%20Scotland.
SG (Scottish Government) (n.d) The National Improvement Hub, Resources on Weather and Climate Change on https://education.gov.scot/improvement/learning-resources/weather-and-climate-change/
Thomas, A., Baptiste, A., Martyr-Koller, R., Pringle, P., & Rhiney, K. (2020) Climate Change and Small Island Developing States, Annual Review of Environmental Resources, 45: 1–27. On https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-environ-012320-083355
Thunberg, G. (2022) The Climate Book. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Vargas, R. (2022) A powerful solution’: activists push to make ecocide an international crime, The Guardian, 26 September. On https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/26/activists-push-make-ecocide-international-crime
Weir, D. (2024) The climate costs of war and militaries can no longer be ignored, The Guardian, 9 Jan. On https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/09/emission-from-war-military-gaza-ukraine-climate-change#:~:text=The%20best%20estimate%20we%20have,emissions%2C%20between%20India%20and%20Russia.
WMO (World Meteorological Organization) (2023) State of the Global Climate, 2022. On https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=11593
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Lena Dominell
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.