Research Report: Children & Climate: Mapping Intergenerational Justice in Brazil

Researcher: Rafaela Carderone

Research Mentor: Rodrigo Tadeu Guimarães Jales

This study examines how the climate crisis is contributing to violations of early childhood rights in Brazil, and how civil society organisations are responding. Drawing on thematic analysis of interviews with representatives from 13 Brazilian NGOs and a comprehensive policy review, the research introduces a “Green Child Rights” framework linking international and domestic children’s rights law to climate governance. Despite strong constitutional protections for children, the study finds a severe implementation gap, with childhood largely invisible within national climate policy agendas and government responses to climate disasters often fragmented and reactive. NGOs play a critical role in advancing child-centred climate justice through community intervention, litigation, and youth participation — but are constrained by a lack of disaggregated data, insufficient funding, and political discontinuity. The study calls for recognising children as political actors in climate governance.

Keywords: climate justice; children’s rights; intergenerational justice; Brazil; civil society; climate policy; child-centred advocacy; environmental governance