How many of us as children believed a monster hid in their closet or under the bed and took a flying leap to the safety of our bed. For millions of children around the world it turns out that the monsters under the bed are real. Younger generations have either met untimely deaths or have risen up, taken on leadership roles, and joined hands for a new world.
Fridays for Future (FFF) is a youth-led global climate strike movement that started in August 2018 when 15-year-old Greta Thunberg initiated a school strike in a lone dissent. In the three weeks leading up to the Swedish election, she sat outside Swedish Parliament every school day and demanded urgent action on the climate crisis. She was tired of society’s unwillingness to see the climate crisis for what it is: a crisis.
Since then Greta Thunberg became a force of and for nature. She has touched children around the world and raised public awareness of climate change.
In 2021, the FFF and UNICEF collaborated to produce a report titled Climate Crisis Is a Child Rights Crisis: Introducing the Children’s Climate Risk Index’(CCRI) that mapped the impact of climate change on children around the world. Other CCRI collaborative organizations were Data for Children Collaborative and Climate Cardinals, an international youth led non-profit which translates climate change research and information in order to reach as many young people and leaders as possible.
CHILDRENS CONSTITUTIONAL STANDING IN LAW AND THE EXISTENTIAL THREAT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Children and young adults around the globe are developing the skills to build awareness of deeper issues at local and national levels. They are finding avenues to make themselves and the issues known..
Legal standing under current laws and the complexity and politization of climate change are among the barriers they face.
But wins are happening. The courts are finally, and reluctantly in cases, recognizing the rights of children who hold governments accountable for their present and future welfare.
A law suit filed by Our Children’s Trust in 2015, Juliana v. United States, for young plaintiffs asserted that the federal government had violated children's constitutional rights by causing dangerous carbon dioxide concentrations.
For over eight years, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) aggressively filed motions to delay or dismiss the landmark constitutional climate case.
This adversarial response by the US government reveals what was at stake in this case and other cases:
Attacking a specific law or action is one thing if plaintiffs are directly injured, but this devolves to the level of attacking the generic failure of government to fix what the plaintiffs and judge consider an existential issue.
On December 29, 2023, nine years after the suit was filed there was a win for the plaintiffs when a motion to dismiss the case by the federal government was denied, motion to certify prior order for interlocutory appeal was denied, motion to stay litigation was denied, and a motion to set pretrial conference granted.
This ruling for the young plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States followed another success at the state level in Held v. Montana. Represented by the Oregon-based law firm Our Children’s Trust the plaintiffs were 16 children and young adults from Montana.
On December 10, 2023, 18 children across the state of California, ranging from ages 8 to 17, filed Genesis B. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency against the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), its administrator, Michael Regan, and the United States federal government.
Represented by the Our Children's Trust the young plaintiffs asserted that the EPA intentionally allows life-threatening climate pollution to be emitted by the fossil fuel sources of greenhouse gases it regulates, harming children’s health and welfare. They offered evidence of their existing health effects related to climate change. The plaintiffs also claimed that the EPA discriminated against them as children by discounting the economic value of their lives and their future when it decides whether and how much climate pollution to allow.
The day after the conclusion of COP28, a unanimous decision by three justices on the Federal Court of Appeals re-opened the door to 15 youths, ages 10 to 19, who had brought a suit against the Canadian government for actions that cause climate change. The justices ruled the youth represented in La Rose v. His Majesty the King deserved a trial to determine if Canada was fulfilling a constitutional obligations to protect children’s rights to life, liberty and security of the person under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The judge noted that global change is not a distant problem but is current and consequential, and that “it is also beyond doubt that the burden of addressing the consequences will disproportionately affect Canadian youth."
Juliana v. United States and succeeding climate change cases are expected to increase exponentially in 2024. These constitutionally based cases representing future generations are changing the nature of law.
CHILDREN IN WAR ZONES AND THEIR ACTIVISM
Climate change is one front and war is another. Of course, they are inter-related. Will generational affects based on constitutional law ever apply to the consequences of war on children? If so, where will a functional remedy lie?
Wars have brought death and displacement to children. In Kids Rights, as of the end of 2022, 43.3 million children had been displaced due to conflict and violence across the world. They accounted for 40 percent of all forcibly displaced people.
in BNN, on November 1, 2023, young Palestinian volunteers transformed a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) school, one of 183 such schools housing refugees in Gaza, into an island of hope for displaced children. The volunteers provided psychological support and a sense of normalcy. There was laughter during organized games, clown performances and gift giving events which brought moments of joy that eased their traumatic experiences.
As of December 19, 2023 A total of 342 school buildings have sustained damage (about 70 per cent of all school buildings in Gaza). Seventy of the schools damaged were UNRWA schools, with at least 56 serving as shelters for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Several schools, including UNRWA schools, have been directly hit by Israeli airstrikes or tank shells. Many thousands of children have been killed in Gaza's schools and hospitals including UNRWA schools.
THE WAR ON DISSENT
In many cases dissent by the young is muzzled by authorities.
Atlanta Georgia is a city of extremes. There are extremes such as wealth disparities, racial and class differences, and rapid gentrification. It has one of the larger corporate presences in the country. It also has a historically high crime rate. Part of the city's ambition was to build the biggest and the best training facility for law enforcement and firemen in an environmentally sensitive area which would serve to protect the city's ambitions for accelerated growth. The city moved ahead with construction of the training facility in the face of local and wider-spread public protest.
Georgia Manuel (Tortaguita) Paez Teran, a 26 year old Venezuelan environmental activist, came to Atlanta as a peaceful protester against what became known as Cop City with other mostly young people who were later deemed domestic terrorists and charged under the RICO act. Dissent would not be tolerated.
Tortaguita was killed by law enforcement on January 18, 2023. His story reached across the globe along with the global reality of US militarization.
Despite the challenges of the Atlanta experience, or perhaps because of them, the Cop City movement grew across the country and set an example for other young adults concerned with social justice, environmental issues, and the increasing militarization within law enforcement in the United States.
Howey Ou, in China, has waged a lonely fight. She is the only teen in the country to go on strike to bring attention to climate change. In doing so,she became a target for Chinese authorities and her school would not allow her to return until she gave up her activism. Howey vows she would continue to strike every Friday until China aligned with the Paris agreement.
In the Japan Times, Egor Chastukhin, an 18-year-old environmental activist recorded an odor and yellowish color, along with two other teenage activists, in water located near a paper factory close to the city of Penza in western Russia. The water had excess levels of chlorine, iron and organic matter. It was unfit to drink. The young activists wanted people to know what they were drinking, but could not because of pressure from the government. As added barriers, the crackdown on dissent had worsened during the war on Ukraine and any strong environmental organizations had disappeared. Chastukhin and others have continued with attempts to raise awareness in spite of the risks. 
YOUNG INNOVATORS BRING PUBLIC AWARENESS OF CLIMATE CHANG
In BBC , a report from OFcom conducted a survey to see how young people were using the internet. It found that 12 to 15 year-olds were skillfully using social media and communicating with others to show their support for causes and organizations they felt strongly about.
A number of young activists are building awareness among children and for children. In Vice News,Tahsin Uddin, 22, is a climate activist in Bangladesh. He was 12 when he published a monthly magazine for children called Lal Sabuj. Children of different ages started sending their problems and solutions in the form of reports or creative articles. At the beginning of each month, they would wait to collect the new copy of Lal Sabuj. Their interest inspired him. He went on to create opportunities to practice journalism for children and others at risk from the impacts of climate change in coastal areas,
Nkosilathi Nyathi is a Unicef climate activist from Zimbabwe. In 2019 the 17-year-old began an initiative to teach his community about climate change, and to call on global leaders to reduce their global emissions and invest in sustainable development.“
Nineteen year old Nicole Becker in Argentina began “Jovenes Por El Clima,” a Fridays for Future movement, to represent young Latin Americans in the climate conversation. Her organization got the first climate change law in Argentina passed, and successfully pushed the country to declare a climate and ecological emergency.
Children were born in a technological age and they are innovating in different sectors.
On November 17th, 2023 three Ukrainian teenagers, Sofiia Tereshchenko, Anastasiia Feskova and Anastasiia Demchenko (left to right), were awarded the prestigious 19th annual International Children’s Peace Prize, which is the most important youth award worldwide, by Tunisian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ouided Bouchamaoui. The ceremony was held in The Palace of Whitehall, London. The three teenagers had developed two mobile apps to help refugees navigate new and often frightening experiences. The first app was for children 4-11. The second app targeted those 16 years and older who struggled to integrate into new countries. Both apps were made available for download in the App Store.
Ryan Tiwari was a sophomore at South Brunswick High School in New Jersey. He became bored with remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic. His father suggested he think about ikigai, a Japanese concept referring to something that gives a person a sense of purpose. Tiwari decided that his purpose was to help others through technology. He built an app that analyzes fingernail scans for signs of deficiencies in vitamin B12, calcium, zinc, and other nutrients. The app then recommended dietary and lifestyle changes, potentially preventing the development of anemia.
Russell Raymond, age 17, used social media to produce a documentary that brought public awareness to what happened in Dominica following a hurricane. He brought the reality of climate change for everyday people into a relatable story and a sharper focus.
AFRICA's YOUNG INNOVATORS
Africa is frequently seen from one perspective as a continent of scarcity, warring factions, droughts, pestilence, and victim to the pressures of large countries that coercively siphon off its abundant resources, and so on.
It is projected that by 2050 Africans, many of them children, will represent one quarter of the world's population.
Over the years stories about African children innovating solutions in their homes in the face of great odds have filtered through demonstrating that the children and young adults of Africa are important players behind the global hope for a new world order that brings peace.
Chido Celopatra Mpemba, the African Union Special Envoy on Youth Affairs, says its youth is the key to Africa's future relationships on and off the continent.
Now 31, Zuriel Elise Oduwole is a Nigerian education advocate and filmmaker best known for her works on the advocacy for the education of girls in Africa. She is of Nigerian and Mauritian descent, while also being a U.S. citizen.
Her advocacy has since made her the youngest person to be profiled by Forbes. In November 2014, at age 12, Zuriel became the world’s youngest filmmaker to have a self-produced and self-edited work after her film showed in two movie chains, and then went on to screen in Ghana, England, South Africa, and Japan.
Oduwole has met with 24 presidents and prime ministers in line with her education advocacy work. Some of these include the leaders of Jamaica, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Liberia, South Sudan, Malta, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Guyana and Namibia. She has also appeared in popular television stations including CNBC, Bloomberg TV, BBC, and CNN. In 2013, Oduwole was listed in the New African Magazine‘s list of “100 Most Influential People in Africa”.
After William Kamkwamba in Malawi graduated from primary school, he entered secondary education. His family could not pay the fee so he had to drop out at age 14.
He wanted to know how to supply energy to his family. He used the library to learn how to build a prototype to use the wind as a natural resource. He was able to supply enough energy to ensure clean water, fight maleria, and provide solar power and lighting for six homes using whatever materials he could scrouge up. Ultimately, he graduated from Dartmouth College and published his autobiography, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.
Kelvin Doe (AKA “DJ Focus”), a Sierra Leonean, taught himself engineering. He searched for odd parts to create an energy source when he was 10. Like William Kamkwamba, he lived in in an area that had few resources. Like Kamkwamba he salvaged discarded parts. At around 15 he built a hand-powered generator and a battery to power his home and the homes of the neighbors. He then started his own radio station.
Doe went on to higher education. He also was the youngest person ever to participate in the MIT Visiting Practitioners Program.
Zimbabwe’s Tafadzwa Muusha (recipient of the WSIS Healthy Ageing Innovation Prize), developed a automated smart walking stick that detects physical objects and serves as an artificial-vision tool for visually impaired people. Denis Ogwang of Uganda developed a water monitoring app after watching his friends suffer from preventable water-borne diseases.
There are many stories about young people in Africa working to build a more just and sustainable future. They bring to life the maxim "necessity is the mother of invention", often under trying circumstances, which is something the world must learn on the road to peace.
NOT MY GRANDCHILDREN
The desire to fight endless war and to tackle climate change through peace movements is an intergenerational movement.
Many, representing older generations, know there is no way to retire from the world. With apologies to the younger generation they put themselves on the line and they are everywhere. Over the past two weeks millions have protested in cities demanding social justice and racial equality. Older men and women together with younger generations have added their voices and perspectives to a wide range of peaceful demonstrations. They invariably express their concern for a world the next generations will inherit.
Climate change is a divisive issue in Australia, the world's biggest exporter of thermal coal behind Indonesia, and the top exporter of coking coal, used to make steel. In Australia 97-year-old grandfather, Unitarian Church minister Alan Stuart became the oldest person ever arrested and charged in Australia. was one of 109 people arrested after a blockade of the Port of Newcastle, which is Australia's largest terminal for coal exports.
In Rolling Stone, women around the world are tackling climate change across sectors. For some, marching in the street is nothing new — they have attended rallies and protests for decades to bring awareness or demand change on important social issues. For others, in terms of the need for social justice, the death of George Floyd in police custody has spurred them to action for the first time.”
 In Sweden, The KlimaSeniorinnen group (Swiss Climate Seniors), comprised of 2,038 women age 64 and older, took the government to court over its failure to address climate change in the first lawsuit of its kind ever heard before European Court of Human Rights. There are now three pending cases in the Court on the issue of state climate-change action.
Laura Kearns (63) was one of four senior citizens; Laura Kearns (63), Lorraine Fontana (76), Priscilla Smith (67) and Shelley Nagrani (73) were arrested during a demonstration outside the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center's (COP City) future site. Kearns was then arrested outside of Home Depot one of the financial supporters of the Cop City facility.
Older generations live with the pain of the past and they do not want that for succeeding generations. Kearns said, We’re asking questions and we’re not getting answers...What we’d mainly like is a seat at the table.” Shelley Nagrani, one of the four elderly protesters, said “I watched the militarization of the police increase every year. I’m afraid that Cop City will push that trend into a much more dangerous place." She said she was willing to go to jail so her grandchildren could have a better future.
In AARP, Rhonda Mathies, 69, recalled her activism in Alabama in the 1960s as the Louisville police came toward her. “‘I’m tired, she said. I’m tired for my people. I keep saying it’s up to the next generation, but knowing what my ancestors have been through, my inner being propels me back out to the streets...it’s a movement", she said, "Racism is still alive.’ She went down on her knees and prayed in protest. She cried and sang “We Shall Overcome.”
TWO 12 YEAR OLDS - ONE LIVES, ONE DIES
Many of the children are very young. Their lives in this world is very different. Younger generations have either met untimely deaths or have risen up and joined hands for a new world. Two 12-year-olds tell the story of what our young are experiencing today. One lives, the other dies. “ 
Children should be seen and not heard was not acceptable to Licypriya Kangujam. The 12-year-old climate activist from India’s Manipur, stormed the stage of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP28 in Dubai, to demand an end to the use of fossil fuels. Kangujam had founded The Child Movement. Since age 6 she had been championing climate action to curb India’s high pollution levels and to make climate change literacy mandatory in schools . In 2022 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr Jose Ramos Horta launched a foundation in her name called “Licypriya Foundation”.
 Dunia Abu Mohsen age 12, was a resident of Gaza. She was in the hospital after losing her leg in an Israeli airstrike when she was killed by an Israeli tank-fired I j. Before she died she said she wanted to be a doctor to help others. She didn't have a chance. The monster was real.