Are we really leaving Brazil’s children to fight the climate battle alone? Writes Levison Wood

Yet amid the beauty, Brazil stands on the frontline of climate change, and its 50 million children live that reality daily, their futures at risk.

COP30 in Belém, in the beating heart of the Amazon, one of the planet’s great climate stabilisers, carried a weight few past summits could match.

For me, it was a stark reminder that protecting wildlife and forests are essential to safeguarding future generations – and, as a UNICEF UK Ambassador, it’s clear that children themselves need a seat at the table.

Each year, COP faces growing cynicism – seen by some as no longer a catalyst for real change, while the cautious optimism of the Paris Agreement, the landmark treaty designed to avoid the worst climate impacts, feels like a distant memory.

But with over 1 billion children living at extreme risk of climate change worldwide, threatening their health, education and their futures, united action is desperately needed.

That’s why meeting a roomful of Brazilian youth activists was the highlight of my trip. These were passionate young advocates with their own projects and community initiatives, working alongside UNICEF to take control of their futures.

Everywhere I’ve travelled, I’ve seen children bearing the brunt of climate change. But I’ve also seen them stepping up to fight back.

I met Daise, from Pará State, who tirelessly advocates for her quilombola community as climate change reshapes their lives, while inspiring the next generation by teaching children the importance of reforestation.

And I met Tainara, an Indigenous activist from an Omágua Kambeba community in Manaus, who spoke with deep knowledge about how, for Amazonian communities like hers, deforestation, pollution and nature degradation were impacting children's health from the moment they are born.

As she told me, “trees can’t talk, so we speak for them… the Amazon is our home, and we defend it.”

Listening to those most affected, especially children and young people, is essential to finding real solutions. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

Climate change is already hitting children hardest, driving hunger, causing water shortages, and disrupting schools and health clinics through relentless heatwaves and worsening floods. Even before birth, the odds are stacked against them. Just one degree hotter and a mother’s risk of losing her baby rises.

A new UNICEF UK survey shows that six in ten adults in Britain are worried about how children will cope with an increasingly volatile climate, while only one in five think the Government is doing enough.

People are right to be concerned. A 40% cut to UK aid by 2027 risks the very programmes designed to protect children from climate shocks.

But this isn’t a lost cause. We know what works. The UK can still show leadership in the upcoming budget by ringfencing 25% of overseas development funding for child-focused, climate-resilient programmes, and honouring its emissions and fossil-fuel commitments.

As Heloisa, another youth activist told me: “Nobody can speak up for us, other than ourselves”. They deserve to be at the heart of solution. The question is whether the UK government is ready to match their urgency and take action to protect future generations.

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Levison Wood is a professional explorer, documentary maker and photographer and he is a UNICEF UK Ambassador.

Join UNICEF UK and write to your MP today to ask their support in prioritising children in the UK aid budget, here.

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