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Our Kids AirIA_B_TM2026-03-27T11:07:17+01:00

Impact of air pollution on children

Impact of air pollution on children

Right now, over 90 percent of children worldwide breathe polluted air that puts their health and development at serious risk.

Shockingly, nearly 2,000 children under the age of five die everyday due to health impacts linked to air pollution.

Children are uniquely vulnerable to air pollution because they are still developing. Air pollution harms children’s growing lungs, brains, and hearts, and causes chronic diseases from asthma to cancer.

Our children’s air is full of pollution because of the burning of fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal. But we can change this. Parents are pushing for clean air and clean energy to protect what we love: our children, our neighbourhoods, and our planet.

Our work

Our Kids’ Climate brings parents together to take action on air pollution, fossil fuels, and children’s health.

Our global efforts started in 2021, when we presented a letter from almost 500 parent groups from 44 countries to the president of COP26, highlighting the dangers of fossil fuels on our children’s health and futures.

We have brought the issue of air pollution and its connection to fossil fuels into global climate summits and UN conferences, including the Summit of the Future in September 2024.

Most recently, in March 2025, parents from the Our Kids’ Climate community rallied in the streets, and attended a major World Health Organization (WHO) Conference on Air Pollution and Health in Colombia, demanding clean air for every child.

The #OurKidsAir campaign brought powerful street actions to 20 towns and cities across 13 countries, spanning 6 continents. Our delegation of determined mothers brought children’s stories and experiences to the heart of the WHO conference.

We also launched a short film – Every Breath Tells A Story – to show the impacts of air pollution on children’s everyday lives.

Meet Our Clean Air Circle

In 2024, we established a Clean Air Circle of parents and activists to steer and deepen our campaigning on air pollution. Our Circle includes organizers from Brazil, Ghana, India, Poland, Mexico, South Africa, Uganda, and the USA.

Areli Carreón, Mexico
Areli Carreón, Mexico
Areli Carreón is a mother of two, and a core organizer at Mamás y Papás por el Clima from Mexico, which brings together moms and dads in action against climate change. She is also a founding member of Bicitekas A.C. that promotes bicycle use as a clean air transportation solution in Mexico City, since 1998. She coordinated the National campaign Hazla de Tos por Aire Limpio in 2011, mobilizing cycling groups to achieve more stringent national regulation for air pollutants. Bicitekas is part of the Observatorio Ciudadano por la Calidad del Aire – A Citizens’ Air Quality Observatory in the Metropolitan area of Mexico City.
Clarissa Canova, Brazil
Clarissa Canova, Brazil
Clarissa is the leader of Mães pelo Clima (Mothers for Climate), a social initiative that connects, engages, and empowers Brazilian mothers concerned about the climate crisis and its impact on their children. During COP30, Clarissa launched her first children’s book entitled “The Air We Breathe” (“O Ar que Respiramos” in Portuguese). The book is connected to a climate-education and family-mobilization project called “Read for Air,” which involves community-based events, read-ins, and collaborations with educators and local governments. Clarissa is also the founder/CEO of Causo, a branding agency focused on conscious branding and brand impact.
Bhavreen Kandhari, India
Bhavreen Kandhari, India
Bhavreen is an inspiring and experienced campaigner who is pushing for clean air in India and beyond. She is a co-founder of Warrior Moms, which brings mothers together across India to call for clean air for the sake of their children’s health. Bhavreen has spearheaded other public movements and campaigns in India to call for action on environmental justice issues, such as ‘My Right To Breathe’ and ‘Delhi Trees SOS’. Her campaigning is motivated by her twin daughters and her concerns about Delhi’s excessively polluted air.
Elżbieta Lemańska-Błażowska, Poland
Elżbieta Lemańska-Błażowska, Poland
Ela is one of the co-founders of Rodzice dla Klimatu (Parents For Future Poland), and the mother of a 7-year-old girl. At Rodzice dla Klimatu she is responsible, among other things, for the substantive preparation of parliamentary committee meetings. In her activism, she focuses on the links between environmental quality and public health. She is actively involved in promoting healthy, safe, and climate-resilient schools. She is also a member of the Wrocław Climate Protection Coalition. She loves being in touch with nature, especially mountain hiking. An insurance broker by profession, she encounters the effects of climate change in her work on a daily basis. She is also a moderator of Mozaika Klimatyczna (Climate Mosaic) workshops that educate about climate change in an accessible way.
Michael Wanyama, Uganda
Michael Wanyama, Uganda
Michael is a Ugandan road safety advocate, environmentalist, and automotive technician. He is the founder of Autosafety Uganda, a multi-award-winning, community-driven program dedicated to promoting safe, clean, and sustainable transportation to enhance environmental health and road safety in Uganda. His son’s persistent coughs, opened his eyes to the health harms of air pollution. He trains mechanics, collects emissions data, and retrofits vehicles to make the air cleaner and safer for children. He recently worked with school communities in Kampala to raise awareness and reduce children’s exposure to traffic-related air pollution through education, data tools, and vehicle emissions testing.
Patience Agyekum, Ghana
Patience Agyekum, Ghana
Patience is a climate policy professional whose work centres community voices, particularly young people and other vulnerable groups, in the design and implementation of climate policies and programs. She currently works with Power Shift Africa as an Adaptation Policy and Campaigns Officer. She brings insights on the impacts of air pollution on health and well being in Africa, and on how campaigning can be used as a powerful positive tool to drive policies and interventions that promote clean air for all, especially children, women, and the elderly.
Valinda Chan, Boston, USA
Valinda Chan, Boston, USA
Valinda is a passionate organizer and community leader in East Boston, Massachusetts working at the intersection between environmental, racial, economic, health, and housing justice. Recently Valinda’s work has focused on air pollution and founding the Logan Community Clean Air Coalition. Through practical interventions such as installing air quality sensors to collect data and air purifiers in-home daycare centers, Valinda takes an intersectional approach to addressing the impacts of air pollution beyond climate and environmental spaces. Valinda is also a Team Co-Coordinator with Mothers Out Front on the Core Team of Mutual Aid Eastie.
Xoli Fuyani, South Africa
Xoli Fuyani, South Africa
Xoli is a Founder of Black Girls Rising and an environmentalist who has led groups for over a decade. She spent more than 15 years successfully educating intergenerational groups about environmental issues, developing school programs that inspire learners to make thoughtful choices, and helping older youth discover their power. As Director of Black Girls Rising, a Black-led youth-focused organisation, she is helping empower holistic, well-informed, embodied girl leaders to be at the forefront of climate action, focusing on building emotional well-being and trauma-informed Afrocentric awareness around climate advocacy. Xoli is also a Board Member of the African Climate Alliance and Zero Waste Association of South Africa.

Former Circle Members

Ana Badillo, Quito, Ecuador
Ana Badillo, Quito, Ecuador
Ana Badillo is an economist, researcher, and painter who blends evidence-based insights with everyday experiences to mobilize people in the fight for environmental justice. She is co-founder of Pacha Ayllu – Families for Future Ecuador, a group of families in Quito, Ecuador working to secure a clean, healthy and sustainable environment for Ecuadorian children . Motivated by her three-year-old daughter and concern for Ecuador’s environmental health, Ana and her group raise public awareness about the critical importance of breathing clean air – especially for children and elders – and urge leaders to pursue a just transition away from fossil fuels.
Kamila Kadzidlowska, Poland
Kamila Kadzidlowska, Poland
Kamila is a documentary filmmaker and one of the central organizers in Rodzice dla Klimatu (Parents For Future Poland). She developed a short film called In the Fumes of the Black Gold that features people deeply affected by coal and the climate crisis, including former miners, youth, and families living in the shadow of the Bełchatów coal plant. She is active in campaigns that are helping to raise awareness about the health impact of air pollution on children with parents, healthcare providers, and policy-makers, and helped secure Warsaw’s endorsement of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty together with other Polish parent and youth activists.

Clean Air Stories

Across our global network, parents and carers are joining together to make our kids’ air cleaner, safer and less polluted. Read some of their powerful stories.

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