Mental Health and Climate Change: Child & Youth at the forefront (safely and meaningfully) - A guide for both youth and decision-makers

At a time when mental health and climate justice demand urgent attention, this side event created a much-needed space for youth voices and local perspectives to be heard at the global level.

The guide was developed as a report from the ECOSOC Youth Forum side event “Climate Change and Mental Health: Youth at the forefront" organized by the Child & Youth Working group at the Global Mental Health Action Network as a partnership with ASEc+ Brazil (UN ECOSOC member), Vertentes, ECOSOC and Brazil Foundation.

What You Need to Know:

The document was designed to bring together the insights, recommendations and views brought by the youth, policymakers and experts throughout the event. From a myriad of points of views, from the grassroots to the global, you’ll learn: 

• The effects of climate change on child and youth mental health

• Concrete recommendations to integrate mental health into climate policies at local, national, and global levels 

• How youth perspectives can bridge the gap between science, lived experience, and policymaking. 

• How to engage young people safely and meaningfully (and the reason why that's so important). 

• More about young people and experts working on this field around the world 

Let's make sure these voices shape the solutions ahead, carrying them into policies, projects, and everyday decisions.