This study examined how Filipino children perceive climate change and how they adapt to its impacts. This study also examined the climate-adaptation measures initiated by the city, communities, and households, with particular attention to how such measures could protect the welfare of children and strengthen their adaptive capacities. This study was conducted in three peri-urban communities in Malolos, Philippines. The three communities chosen for in-depth investigation have high concentrations of children and are regularly exposed to flooding and other water-related hazards due to climate change.
Focus group discussions (FGD), group interviews, and individual interviews were conducted to collect data. Thirty-eight adults (parents, teachers and city officials) and 45 children (aged 9-15) participated in the study. Additional data was obtained from official city documents, city government websites, and informational brochures. Data from the children's FGDs was coded into three main categories: impact, perception, and adaptation. Other data were analyzed in relation to household, community, and city adaptation practices in support of the children's own coping mechanisms.
Children's responses indicated that they believed climate change is real and already happening. Most children linked climate change to high-profile disasters, such as massive flooding. Some children, however, linked climate change to slow and less dramatic impacts on their everyday lives, such as a decline in fish and the resulting economic loss for the community. The children identified four other areas of their personal lives impacted by climate change: (1) health, (2) education, (3) safety and welfare, and (4) play and recreation. Some children were more negatively impacted by climate change than others. This was especially true for children from poor families. The parents of children with disabilities also expressed concern about the impact of climate change on the health of their children.
Children's adjustment to the impacts of climate change varied generally by age. Younger children tended to stay indoors in times of typhoons and floods. Teenagers, however, often assumed certain responsibilities to protect their family and household belongings. Most of the children's responses reflected a problem-solving approach to coping with the impacts of climate change in their immediate environment. There were few, if any, household, community, and city level interventions in place to protect children from the negative impacts of climate change. Without such supports, some children – especially poor children – experience helplessness and exasperation in performing individual-level interventions. These findings highlight the need for child-sensitive climate change adaptation at the household, community and city levels to support the coping mechanisms of children. Educational initiatives and children's voices should be included in the process.
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