The voice of the young in a climate emergency - Changing the narrative from children as helpless victims to active agents of change

Abstract: This thesis aims to examine the role of children as agents of change in an urgent climate context. This thesis uses a normative method with an argumentative structure. The material is mainly based on secondary sources, with predominantly emphasis on the interests, concerns and rights of the child, their agency and intergenerational justice. This thesis argues for a shift in the perception of the child from helpless victims of climate change to active agents. With the use of intergenerational justice theory and children’s agency into the discourse of childhood studies and environmental studies, this thesis suggests that a updated perception on the role of children in the climate change context is needed to account for children’s right to participation and for the survival of the environment and the future of mankind. The thesis concludes that this issue is a matter of rights, future life, and justice.