Climate change position statement

Australia’s young people are showing climate leadership, but are sidelined in climate strategy

Children and young people are committed to climate action and deserve to be heard. At a national level, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and School Strike 4 Climate network are calling for a transition to 100 per cent solar and wind technologies within the next decade supported by funded programs for regional workers to help them transition to environmentally friendly employment. Seed Indigenous Climate Network is calling for First Nations voices, knowledge, and expertise to be better reflected in Australia’s climate policies and to account for the devastating impacts of climate change on community and culture. Although children and young people are working hard to influence climate policy, their voice is largely missing from state and federal climate strategies. There is no reference to children or young people in the Australian Government’s 2021 climate strategy The Australian Way. Victoria’s Climate Change Strategy refers to the role of youth networks in climate change adaptation but makes no reference to how children and young people are being consulted on climate policy or how the existing strategy will specifically benefit children and young people.[1]

Bringing children and young people to the table on climate policy

As the generation who will be most affected by climate change, Australia’s children and young people need to be consulted on state and federal climate policy. A recent paper published by UNICEF identified several ways government can safely and respectfully engage children and young people in climate policy discussions, including:

• Providing training for children and young people on climate policy processes offline and online at a developmentally appropriate level so they can meaningfully contribute to climate policy discussions
• Offering child friendly forums and spaces where children and young people can independently access the resources/support they need to plan and prepare for participation in climate policy discussions
• Giving young people a seat at the table alongside stakeholders and key decision makers during climate policy discussions, panels and high-level processes, so they can observe and contribute to negotiations
• Undertake evaluation of children and young people’s experience of engagement with policy discussions to identify opportunities for improvement and further engagement.[1]

These strategies would build on recent efforts in other policy areas by both the Victorian Government and the Australian Government to consult with children and young people and reflect their voices in decision making processes. Positive examples include the Victorian Government’s Child Protection Youth Advisory Group and the Australian Government’s Youth Taskforce and National Youth Policy Framework.[2]