Report: Proper Planning Required in S Africa to Help Children Cope with Impacts of Climate Change

South Africa government must come up with proper planning and resources that will enable children to cope better with impacts of climate change, says a report launched Saturday by a United Nations agency responsible for children.

The United Nations Children's Fund- South Africa (UNICEF-SA) report titled: "Exploring the impacts of climate change on children in South Africa" calls on Pretoria to ensure "effective representation and meaningful" participation of children within all climate change decision making processes.

"The projected effects of climate change in South Africa as well as the global literature on the impacts of climate change on children indicate the need for focused planning for preventive and responsive measures, particularly towards enhancing child wellbeing," says the report lunched in Pretoria.

The study commissioned and funded by the UNICEF South Africa in support of the Ministry of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities (MWCPD) and the Department of Environmental Affairs was released Saturday, as Pretoria declared the first Saturday of November as the National Children's Day. Globally the day is marked on Nov. 20.

The day's particular focus is on children from underdeveloped countries affected by sustained socio-economic instability, violence and war. In South Africa it is set to highlight progress being made towards the realization and promotion of rights of children.

The timely report was released six days ahead of the 17th Conference of Parties (COP 17) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to kick start in South Africa next week.

"Better planning and resourcing national, provincial and local governments in the short and medium run can enable children and their families to cope better with climate change impacts as they arise," says the report.

UNICEF-SA said while there is a great deal of uncertainty surrounding climate change in South Africa, two things are known- first, that change is a certainty and second, that in order for policy decisions to support children and households in adapting to these changes successfully and sustainably, action is required immediately.

At the national level, "institutional changes" are needed, says the report.

"Effective representation and meaningful participation of children is a good starting point, but representation has to move from passive referencing in development plans, to active integration and mainstreaming within all relevant decision making processes," UNICEF - SA Communication Officer Kate Pawelczyk said reading the report summary.

She said children must be formally recognized as a unique social group, and formally represented – including through their own participation – in the climate change policy development process as well as in processes to advance South Africa's commitment to Disaster Risk Reduction.

Indicating that children are disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, the UN agency said leading agencies in South Africa on climate change planning such as the Ministry of Environmental Affairs should promote the interest and engagement of other sector ministries in this regard, in close collaboration with the MWCPD and other actors whose work focuses essentially on improving child wellbeing.

It said capacity building will be required to strengthen departments' specific competence on climate change and disaster risk reduction as it relates to children.

The report says impacts of climate change on children need to be considered in relation to wider development pressures affecting the country. Challenges such as international economic shocks and stresses, high levels of poverty and inequality, population changes, effects of HIV and AIDS, management of scarce natural resources and rapid urbanization will each interact with climate change and affect how it is transmitted to children and households at the local level.

"With this in mind, responding to changing climate and development pressures requires efforts from all stakeholders, as well as coordination across multiple levels of governance - from household and community, municipality and province, to national and international levels," Pawelczyk told Xinhua.