In the Philippines, all climate change plans and programmes are required to be “prochildren” under the Climate Change Act (Republic Act 9729), yet in practice child-specific vulnerabilities and priorities remain insufficiently addressed, both in the National Framework Strategy on Climate Change 2010-2022 and in the National Climate Change Action Plan 2011-2028 (NCCAP).25 Neither the initial and second communications to the UNFCCC, nor the Philippines’ Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) refer to children. On the contrary, the Children’s Emergency Relief and Protection Act of 2016 provides a global standard for protecting children during emergencies and disaster situations, such as those encountered in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. The Act provides for specific measures to protect and educate children in these contexts, to ensure their participation in relevant decision-making processes, and to improve data collection.26 In child-relevant sector policies and strategies, progress is similarly mixed. Although there is some recognition of children’s vulnerability to climate change, for example, in the National Climate Change Adaptation in Health Strategic Plan,27 and in the NCCAP which acknowledges the need to integrate climate change into primary and secondary education curricula, learning materials and teacher training, there is a continuing need for this to be concretely translated into programmes and investment.28 Existing good practices of integrating child rights in climate action illustrate the myriad benefits of doing so, and UNICEF is working with Governments around the world to implement such child-centred national laws, consultations and initiatives.29 In Madagascar, for example, a comprehensive child-focused approach to disaster risk reduction – incorporating a range of interventions including integration of DRR in education curricula and teacher training, strengthening early warning systems, and constructing cyclone-proof classrooms using low-carbon technologies – has contributed to no child dying in a school setting as a result of floods and cyclones since 2006.30 In Zambia, the “Unite4Climate” initiative supports the training of 200 children each year to become climate ambassadors, supporting them to use media, debates, peer-to-peer education and advocacy efforts to engage their communities and leaders on the issue of climate change, as well as the implementation of low-cost community adaptation and mitigation projects. To date, more than 1000 ambassadors have reached over a million children, youth and community members. In the Philippines itself, the success of initiatives led by the National Youth Commission such as the National Day for Youth in Climate Action, clearly demonstrates the immense mobilization potential of children and youth in fostering awareness and debate among the general public, undertaking action themselves, and contributing to the Government’s formal negotiating position in advance of international climate talks. 31 Furthermore, UNICEF has been assisting the government to implement innovative community-based participatory 3D mapping exercises in which children work alongside other community members to develop models of their villages and to identify climate-related hazards such as floods and storm surges. Children help to establish baseline data and to point out hazard-prone areas, such as houses made of light-weight materials or households with persons with disabilities. The project has allowed for the risk-mapping of some of the most hazard-prone villages in the country, while building a common understanding among community members of the risks at hand. This demonstrates how children have a critical role to play in building their own and their communities’ resilience to the impacts of climate change, when equipped with the skills and means to do so.32