Children, Cities, & Climate Action Lab
Photo by Amani Nation on Unsplash
Accelerating healthy decarbonisation in Global South cities with young people
Project:
Children, Cities, and Climate Action Lab
Location:
Global South
Partners:
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UrbanBetter, C40
Funders:
FIA Foundation, Bernard Van Leer Foundation, Fondation Botnar
Category:
Climate Resilience
Challenge
Climate Change: Climate change is shaping the daily lives and health of people in cities across the Global South. Rising temperatures, worsening air quality, and more frequent extreme weather events are putting growing pressure on urban populations, particularly those with the fewest resources to adapt. Building resilience now requires not only reducing emissions, but also addressing the immediate health impacts communities are already experiencing.
Cities: Over half the world’s population lives in cities and the urbanization trend is not slowing down, particularly across Africa. The energy requirements of cities are a major driver of the climate crisis, producing an estimated 70% of global carbon emissions, and of a health crisis for urban residents. At the same time, many city residents are exposed daily to harmful air pollution and extreme heat, especially in low- and middle-income countries where infrastructure and services are limited. These overlapping risks make cities a critical front line for both climate action and public health. Air pollution, primarily from fossil fuel-dependent transport and industry, is linked to over 1 million deaths annually on the African continent alone. Air pollution is now the second leading cause of death in Africa, after HIV/AIDS.
Children and Young People: Many cities with severe climate change vulnerabilities also have the largest youth populations, who are among those worst affected by climate change and its drivers. Yet despite bearing the current and future brunt of the climate catastrophe, children and young people are often not equipped with the data, institutional support, and resources they need to advocate for their own futures, especially at the local level. Their perspectives are also frequently underrepresented in urban planning and climate decision-making, creating a gap between lived experience and the policies intended to address these challenges.
A participant from CCC Action Lab in Nairobi shares his vision for a future city
Innovation
In collaboration with UrbanBetter, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and C40, the Children, Cities, and Climate Action Lab brought together young people, caregivers, researchers, and city stakeholders to better understand how air pollution and extreme heat shape daily life in rapidly growing cities. Working in Nairobi and Lagos, the Action Lab combined participatory research with youth engagement to surface lived experiences often missing from climate and urban policy conversations.
Air pollution, which is responsible for an estimated 6.7 million deaths globally each year, with the vast majority occurring in low- and middle-income countries, was a central focus of the Action Lab, alongside the growing risks of extreme heat in urban environments. Through co-design workshops and interactive activities, participants shared how these environmental risks affected their mobility, livelihoods, health, and caregiving.
These insights were synthesized and elevated to inform broader conversations on urban resilience, including engagement with policymakers and global forums such as COP27. By centering the perspectives of those most affected, the Action Lab helped bridge the gap between high-level climate strategies and the lived realities of urban communities, generating actionable insights to inform more inclusive and effective approaches to healthy decarbonization.
Run Leaders in Cape Town from the Cityzens for Clean Air campaign
Key Insights
Daily trade-offs shape exposure to environmental risks:
Participants described having to prioritize income, mobility, and caregiving responsibilities over reducing exposure to air pollution and heat. For many families, avoiding polluted areas or extreme heat was not always feasible given the demands of daily life.
Air pollution and heat are normalized, despite their impacts:
While participants were aware of environmental risks, these were often seen as an unavoidable part of city life. This normalization can reduce the urgency of protective behaviors, even when health impacts are recognized.
Extreme heat affects health & disrupts daily life:
Participants highlighted how rising temperatures affect sleep, productivity, childcare, and overall wellbeing. These impacts were especially pronounced in dense urban neighborhoods with limited access to cooling or green space.
Awareness does not translate into agency:
Many participants understood the risks associated with air pollution and heat but lacked the resources, infrastructure, or institutional support to act on that knowledge in meaningful ways.
Youth are underrepresented in decision-making:
Despite being among those most affected, young people and caregivers are rarely included in urban planning and climate policy processes. This creates a disconnect between lived experience and the solutions being designed.
Participants from the CCC Action Lab in Nairobi pose for a photo during the workshop
Action Lab in Cities
The Action Lab was implemented in Nairobi, Kenya and Lagos, Nigeria, where youth leaders moved from co-designing ideas to actively implementing advocacy campaigns within their communities over a 12-month period.
In Nairobi, youth engaged directly with communities and stakeholders to better understand how air pollution and climate challenges are experienced on the ground. This included site visits such as the Dandora waste site, where teams documented the health impacts of poor waste management, and engagement with over 300 boda-boda riders to explore the transition to electric mobility. These efforts combined data collection, dialogue, and advocacy, while also creating opportunities to engage local government representatives on policy solutions.
In Lagos, youth-led campaigns focused on practical, community-level interventions. Teams worked with food vendors to promote cleaner cooking alternatives, organized clean-up initiatives and trainings within local communities, and led public engagement efforts such as walk-a-thons and awareness campaigns. Through this work, they uncovered key barriers to change, including affordability, access, and resistance rooted in everyday realities.
Across both cities, young people also built relationships with city officials, and other stakeholders. They presented their work, received feedback from experts, and contributed to ongoing policy conversations, which strengthened the connection between lived experience and decision-making. The data and stories from the parents we spoke with were also presented to policymakers and policy influencers at the UN Climate Conference of Parties (COP27) in Egypt.
This process was supported through ongoing training, peer learning, and monthly check-ins, alongside financial support that enabled youth to stay engaged and carry out their work.
