Children should be at the forefront of our response to the climate crisis | Letter

Prof Alan Stein and Dr Lynette Okengo support the call to declare the climate crisis a global public health emergency, and say prioritising children is vital for our future resilience

We strongly support the call to declare the climate crisis a global public health emergency (Report, 16 May). If this approach is to be successful, it is vital that children are put at the forefront of our response. We have ample evidence to show how important the early years of a child’s life are, and increasingly we are understanding how these years are being disrupted by climate change. Droughts, flooding, food insecurity, displacement and extreme heat are already affecting children’s nutrition, learning, and physical and mental health.

Early impairments to development echo throughout your life, and certain physical impairments may even be passed on to subsequent generations. These impacts are occurring around the world and will become more severe as extreme weather events increase in their severity and number. For many countries, these impacts threaten decades of progress that has been made on child health and education.