A Children-Focused Approach to Climate Policy | A Discussion with Alan Stein

In this episode of the Oxford Policy Pod, MPP students Amal Ali and Isabella Notarpietro speak with Professor Alan Stein, Director of the Children and Climate Initiative and Senior Research Fellow in Global Health and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government. An expert in early childhood development with over 300 scientific journal publications, Alan has worked throughout his career with children and families facing adversity. He has made major contributions from both scientific and clinical perspectives to understanding the relationship between parents in adversity and their babies.

This episode explores the intersections between climate change and children’s health. Starting with a discussion of the unique ways in which climate change impacts children, both globally and across different regions, it then examines approaches to policymaking that foreground their experiences and incorporate their voices.

The conversation also explores the Children and Climate Initiative, a groundbreaking new research and policy development collaboration led by Alan. The Initiative aims to show how climate change negatively impacts children’s health outcomes, anticipate where these effects will be most severe in the future and work with policymakers to translate these insights into policy responses. We discuss how the Initiative is contributing to increasing attention to the health impacts of climate change, particularly for children, on the global stage.