Talking about climate change often begins and ends with a familiar string of buzzwords — rising temperatures, heat waves, controlling emissions, and achieving net-zero targets. While these are significant indicators, the conversation becomes dangerously narrow when it excludes how climate change affects the daily lives of vulnerable populations, particularly children. The most affected are often girls from marginalised and resource-poor communities, whose education, health, and safety are eroding under a crisis they had no part in creating.
The reality of climate change transcends abstract statistics for many—take Maithili (name changed), an adolescent girl from the Mawaasi community in Padho village, Madhya Pradesh. As she pursues her Bachelor of Arts degree, Maithili details the mundane challenges that threaten her education, such as fetching water. “Our Grandma used to tell us that the Vindhyachal region was once known for its lush greenery and water abundance,” she explains. “But now, basic sources of water have dried up, forcing me to walk three kilometres daily, consuming four hours just to fetch water, leaving little time for school. At times, I wonder—am I studying, or just surviving?”
Communities like Maithili's have traditionally relied on forest produce and subsistence farming. However, climate change has led to thinner forests, depleting aquifers, and unreliable water sources. The burden disproportionately falls on girls, who are often expected to collect water, sacrificing their educational opportunities. Such expectations are not merely practical; they are steeped in entrenched gender norms that assign caregiving responsibilities to females. “In drought-prone areas, it’s rarely the boys who walk miles for water; it’s the girls who face the loss of valuable school hours and even physical safety,” notes the article. This situation exemplifies climate injustice—an intersection of environmental vulnerability and gendered marginalisation.
The consequences are staggering. Girls like Priya and Suhani (names changed) experience a gradual but impactful erosion of their academic prospects; each hour spent on water collection is an hour lost from school and potential future advancements. This lost time manifests in deteriorating academic performance, increasing dropout rates, and shrinking futures. Moreover, these challenges reflect broader deficiencies in climate policies that fail to prioritise children’s needs, rendering climate change not just an environmental issue, but a crisis of child rights and human rights.
Progress, however, is possible. Despite being included under the ‘Nal Jal Yojana’ initiative, Padho village still faces severe water shortages. Although a new water tank is set to be operational by 2030, immediate needs are pressing. As summer peaks and demands rise, district officials have visited to monitor the situation. Fortunately, community advocacy has led to the installation of a new borewell nearby, a seemingly small yet transformative intervention. For students like Priya and Suhani, this change means they can now concentrate more on their studies, alleviating the daily stress of long treks for water.
Such improvements serve as a reminder that effective solutions need not be prohibitively expensive. They often stem from an alignment of community awareness and basic infrastructure. Sustainable changes—like functional borewells, revitalised traditional water bodies, and incorporating water security into local education plans—can greatly enhance climate resilience for vulnerable children. Local governance, community water management, solar-powered installations, and afforestation efforts need to resonate with the lived realities of young girls.
As the consequences of climate change proliferate, the urgent question is no longer whether we require frameworks that prioritise child rights but rather how soon we can implement them. Delays not only exacerbate environmental degradation but also prolong disruptions to children’s education, leading to stunted potential and violations of basic rights. Climate change, while a global issue, unfolds locally in the lost hours from a girl’s daily life. Supporting her with access to water, a climate-adapted school curriculum, and safe travel conditions has ramifications far beyond individual communities. It is imperative that we advocate not just for the environment but for the futures of those who will inherit it.
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Source: Noah Wire Services