Introduction

Climate change poses an urgent and violent threat to current and future generations. Children will bear the biggest brunt, with immediate and lifelong impacts (United Nations, 2023). Nonetheless, it also highlights the power of children and young people who collectively come together around the world, united around a common cause. The term ‘climate crisis’ encompasses the devastating impacts of global warming, creating environmental havoc and emphasising the need for robust mitigation efforts. The global response is crucial. Climate change is escalating faster than anticipated, affecting every corner of the world, with rising temperatures causing environmental degradation, natural disasters, food and water insecurity, economic upheaval and more. Scientific consensus attributes climate change to human activities, particularly the combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation, leading to a rapid increase in greenhouse gas concentrations.

Global emissions, mainly from coal, oil and gas production, continue unabated, pushing temperatures over 1°C above preindustrial levels. Without intervention, the Paris Agreement's target of limiting warming to well below 2°C is increasingly unachievable, risking irreversible ecological harm. Melting glaciers, rising sea levels, ecosystem collapse and severe weather events threaten major cities and vulnerable coastal populations. Climate change also exacerbates global challenges, widening economic disparities, increasing resource competition and intensifying weather-related disasters. The impacts of climate change disproportionately affect low-income, Indigenous and marginalised communities, exacerbating existing inequalities. Nonetheless, the United Nations (2023) remains hopeful, advocating for sweeping societal transformations in agriculture, land use, transportation and energy production. Technology, particularly renewable energy and electric vehicles, offers solutions, while nature-based approaches like sustainable agriculture and land restoration provide relief. The UN calls for global collaboration across governments, businesses, civil society, youth and academia to forge a green future that mitigates suffering, upholds justice and restores harmony between people and the planet. Together, the UN asserts, we can turn the tide against the climate crisis, with children and young people often leading the charge.

Drawing on research and case study examples, I seek to present a critical exploration of how children engage in environmental issues outside of the education curriculum, from civil society organisations programmes to the school strikes. Particularly focusing on global youth climate action, the Greta Thunberg effect and the rise of young environmental activists, this chapter focuses on children as ‘future makers’, who initiate and lead political action and seek to set the agenda for their own future in light of the failures of adults to address the crisis meaningfully.