It has been estimated by UNICEF that about half of the children of the world – at least one billion of them – are at “extremely high risk” to climate impacts. From floods and heatwaves to pollution and droughts; every child on Earth is impacted by at least one climate hazard. The UN finds that 90 percent of the global burden of diseases linked to climate change is borne by children under five. India is among four South Asian countries where children are at extremely high risk of the impacts of the climate crisis. That’s according to UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI) that ranks countries based on children's exposure to climate and environmental shocks such as cyclones and heatwaves, as well as their vulnerability to those shocks based on their access to essential services. The CCRI has placed India as one of the 33 extremely high-risk countries, with repeated flooding and air pollution being the repeated environmental shocks leading to socio-economic adverse consequences for women and children.

Young and budding film makers, who are interested in making films around this subject, can explore few of the following topics. This is not an exhaustive list and they can scout for more topics related to the subject.

Water scarcity and children: Water scarcity is growing due to increased temperature. Such situations impact food, water and nutrition security of the children. Women, who mostly fetch water for the families, have to devote more time in doing so are left with less time to take care of their children. Children have to miss school, play time and other vital aspects of their daily lives – that help them grow healthy and happy – because many often they also have to accompany their mothers, sisters and other elders in fetching water from long distance.

Cyclones: Cyclones keep visiting the Odisha coasts frequently damaging thereby lives, livelihoods and basic amenities of the coastal communities. Children in these communities have to go through severe mental trauma each time a cyclone strikes. Families have to be relocated to temporary shelters and hence the children miss out on health, hygiene, play and studies. Many often they are deprived of basic WASH facilities impacting their health conditions.

Floods: Floods also create similar conditions as cyclones in many ways but they are not just confined to the coastal areas. Now a days, even western and southern parts of the state are experiencing floods. Their impacts too are long lasting on the vulnerable communities. Urban flooding – mostly flash floods due to extreme rainfall events – have emerged as another challenge. Floods impact children both in rural areas and cities, mostly in the vulnerable geographies. Children in the slums face much more difficulties than the other children of a city. Similarly, children in littoral plains (living in low lying areas of a village near the rivers) face the maximum problem due to floods.

Sea Level Rise: Odisha coast is highly vulnerable to Sea Level Rise and beach erosion. While many villagers are already displaced due to this, many more are on the verge of being displaced. The children in these communities have to bear the maximum brunt of the challenges linked to such displacements and daily threats under which the communities live.

Water quality challenges: Impacts of climate change are felt mostly through water. Both water availability and quality are seriously jeopardised by climate change impacts described above. Many coastal areas of Odisha are already fighting with salinity ingress into their freshwater reserves that is getting aggravated by increased cyclones, tidal surges and sea level rise. The districts of Odisha that are affected by fluoride contamination of their groundwater resources are also facing the risk of aggravated contamination as prolonged heat and drought conditions make water further scarce.

Heatwaves: Heatwaves and heat stress take a heavy toll on the poor and marginalised communities. Their preparedness level is at the lowest compared to other sections of the society. Children of the poor families who have to work as labourers in construction sites or outdoors face the maximum risk.

Adaptation measures: You can also do films on good initiatives that have helped communities to cope with impacts of climate change and in which children have benefited, their rights protected. These could be government, non-government, community, corporate and individual initiatives. Housing and school projects; food, nutrition and health aids to children; initiatives to revive water bodies that help provide children cool places to play and beat the heat; forest protection efforts by communities that have helped children fight food and water insecurity in the times of climate change; so on and so forth can be taken up as subjects for such films.