Climate change is multiplying the incidence of child labour, particularly in agriculture where 70 per cent of all child labour is found, according to a new paper by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The Issue paper on child labour and climate change , is being released as delegates gather to discuss climate action at the COP28 Climate Change Conference, and during the 14th annual meeting of the ILO Child Labour Platform (CLP), the leading business initiative to eradicate child labour in supply chains. The paper finds that climate change – and the public and private sector responses to it – is having a profound impact on child labour and on progress towards the 2025 target date for ending all forms of child labour set in the Sustainable Development Goals.
Children have been identified as one of the population groups at greatest risk from the systemic shocks caused by climate change. The issue paper analyses existing research and identifies some of the key channels through which climate change and climate change responses are linked to child labour.
