Response to Consultation on Flood Resilience

How can decision makers ensure that actions taken to improve flood resilience align with the aims of a Just Transition to achieve a fairer, greener future?

Scotland (along with the rest of the world) faces a nature-climate crisis. Due to global warming, it is projected that changes for Scotland will include increases in intense, heavy rainfall in both summer and winter, leading to increased flooding. Risks exist in flooding from rivers, sewers, ground water and surface water.[1] Warmer global temperatures also contribute to rising sea levels which increases both coastal erosion and risks of flooding for coastal communities.[2] It is thought that 2000 more properties per year are being exposed to flooding as a result of these effects.[3]

We agree that Scotland needs to improve adaptions to mitigate the effects of climate change, we addressed this in more detail when we recently responded to the climate adaptation plan.[4]

Delivering a just transition means ensuring that adapting to climate change is achieved in a fair way that does not disproportionately, negatively impact children and young people. Considering flood adaptation as a children’s rights issue is important, to fully understand the impact it has on children and young people.

How Children and Young People are Impacted by Flooding

Children and young people in Scotland are relatively more vulnerable to the consequences of flooding.[5]

Children’s health may be negatively impacted – they are more vulnerable to the risk of drowning; electrocution; water borne pathogens; skin and gut infections from contaminated water; respiratory diseases from mould and damp and risks of carbon monoxide from the use of generators.[6] Flooding creates a particular risk of mould in the longer term if houses are not dried out.[7] Families experiencing poverty are less likely to be able to afford to run heated fans or dryers to deal with the damp. If they are in rented accommodation they might be at the mercy of the landlord. Tragically illustrating the risk, a recent case found a child had died from exposure to mould.[8] These factors are a considerable risk to the health of children.

Children are also susceptible to the known effects on mental health from flooding such as anxiety, PTSD and depression. These can contribute to strained family dynamics.[9] Then there is the fear that this will happen again.

Flooding can lead to long periods of instability in a child’s life. It can disrupt their education, and displace them from their communities, friends and family. Children are known to be acutely affected during and after floods, losing their homes, friendship networks and familiar surroundings.[10] Recovery from flooding can take months or even years, this level of disruption affects children disproportionately and leaves them living with uncertainty. Often families are placed in temporary accommodation, our office has reported on the disruptive effects of this.[11]

These issues directly engage UNCRC rights, now incorporated into Scots law, including;

Article 6 – the right to life and development.

Article 24 – the right to good quality health care and a clean environment.

Article 27 – the right to a decent standard of living, including food, housing, water

Article 28 – the right to education

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child highlighted the importance of these issues in its most recent General Comment No. 26 (2023)^[12] which focused on children’s rights and the environment;

‘The extent and magnitude of the triple planetary crisis, comprising the climate emergency, the collapse of biodiversity and pervasive pollution, is an urgent and systemic threat to children’s rights globally.’

The most recent Concluding Observations made by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child with regard to the UK highlighted the need to;

‘Ensure that national policies and programmes on addressing environmental protection, climate change and disaster risk management… are developed and implemented in accordance with the principles of the Convention and take into account children’s needs and views^[13].’

The government needs to take sufficient action to protect children and young people from the effects of flooding and help them and their families to recover from the consequences of this when it does happen.

A project conducted by the National Flood Forum, in connection with Save the Children, looked at the lived experience of children and young people affected by flooding.[14]

They reported that recognising children’s perspectives was an important part of building community resilience to flooding. They also highlighted that understanding children’s capacity was of vital importance. Children wanted to be included in prevention work and wanted to understand what the risks were. They also wanted to be recognised in recovery efforts. This gave them a sense of ownership in a time when much of what they had had been taken away or they had been displaced.

‘My experience left me with the feeling of being on our own and it felt like no one cared. It felt like we weren’t helped until it was too late.’

‘Everyone in here like understands what you went through, so you can talk to them and you know that they’re okay with listening, whereas outside they haven’t been through it. Because you sometimes feel like, if you’re talking it, you’re droning a bit and it’s boring them… whereas in here we kind of connect a bit more.’

‘Adults need to know that children become more scared and worried when they do not know what is happening… children have the right to know.’

They recommended that there by some form of flood education programme in schools, to learn about flood warnings or make a flood plan, this was identified by the child participants as being important.

‘Children should be given more information before, during and after flooding because they have the right to know how to prepare, what to expect and how they can contribute. Children can play an active part in helping their communities during and after a flood and derive benefit from this. Such efforts need to be understood so that children can be seen as active citizens and not passive victims.’

They also recommended that insurance companies should be encouraged to develop practices which acknowledge the needs of children and have more effective assessments.

Poverty Experienced and Flooding

Households experiencing poverty are more exposed to the effects of flooding but are less likely to be able to afford the protections. Low-income households are 8 times more likely to be flooded.[15] Families from poorer communities and households experiencing poverty will experience the effects of flooding more than others.

Scotland has some of the greatest areas of deprivation and lowest life expectancy in the UK. Around 1 in 5 people in Scotland live in poverty and shockingly, 1 in 4 children.[16] Poverty is not an inevitability in Scotland, it is the result of political choices. We are disappointed that within the consultation document there is no mention of supporting households experiencing poverty or the impact on children, more should be done to address this.

People experiencing poverty are less likely to be covered by insurance. We know that there is a poverty premium with some communities having to pay more for services. Insurance is more expensive in areas that are seen as more ‘risky’.[17] Leaving these households less able to afford to take measures to protect against flooding or to cover costs to deal with the impacts.[18]

The Joseph Rowantree Foundation has highlighted that;

‘While considerable effort has been made to understand patterns of current and future hazard-exposure, much less effort has been spent on addressing social, personal and environmental factors that render people more or less vulnerable to losses in well-being.’[19]

We should try to reverse this and understand the unique experiences and vulnerability of children and young people, especially those experiencing poverty. There are social dimensions to vulnerability to climate change which have not been sufficient recognised in adaptation policy. The effects of extreme weather events will not be distributed evenly. How badly a person or group will be affected will depend not just on their exposure to the event, but on their vulnerability.

What would help communities understand their current and future flood exposure and the range of options available to them to help them become more flood resilient? (Please rank from most to least important)

Access to flood maps showing current and future flood exposure
1. Access to local flood history
1. Access to information on community “self-help” options.
1. Access to flood resilience advice/support
1. Access to information on the range of flood resilience options available for their community
1. Other (please specify

To help children and young people understand flooding and engage with flood resilience planning, information has to be delivered in child friendly ways which are age and stage appropriate.

We spoke to our Young Advisors about what meaningful and effective participation should look like. They told us that little effort is made to make materials available in child friendly formats. Even if child friendly documents are available, these are not going to be appropriate for all children and young people.

‘It works great if it’s easily accessible to all children and young people.’ (CYPCS Young Advisor).

Some suggested that more has to be done to reach them, politicians and civil servants should be making the effort to engage with schools and other organisations to find out what they think.

‘Workshops are really good ideas. It would work really well if they did that in schools or community groups. Lots of different people.’ (CYPCS Young Advisor).

They thought that making videos was a helpful tool, most children spend time accessing social media and they felt that these communication channels could be better used to reach them.

‘How many people my age are going to read the document? Videos…we live with social media. If you really want a mass of young people, the best way to do that would be to get it over that way.’ (CYPCS Young Advisor).

‘I know a lot of people in my school don’t enjoy reading and would enjoy listening to podcasts.’ (CYPCS Young Advisor).

Some spoke positively about events they had been to in the past on education reform and felt similar formats might be used to discuss climate change.

‘National Discussions…in a local area people from different schools. There was primary and secondary school children talking to each other. It was very good. They had us make videos. I did a rap. I want to know the impact of my rap!’ (CYPCS Young Advisor).

What actions could communities take to improve their flood resilience? (Please rank from most to least important) a. Set up a local community flood resilience group b. Develop a local community flood response plan c. Share local knowledge of what happens during floods with organisations like SEPA and local authorities d. Link up with their local climate action group e. Other (please specify)

Communities that do take action should be encouraged to include children and young people.

How can we ensure that our places are designed to be flood resilient in future?

We support that places in Scotland need to be better designed to be flood resilient and that individual households and businesses can contribute to this. There will be particular challenges for those experiencing poverty, there should be acknowledgement than some people are more equipped to deal with the impact than others. For example we note the consultation document states;

‘At a household level, making space for water could be something as simple as installing a raingarden to reduce the amount of rainwater entering drainage systems during storms.’

This would not be a ‘simple’ solution for a lot of families.

That being said, children and young people have made it clear to us that protecting nature and reversing biodiversity loss are important to them. We are pleased to see that the government propose to incorporate nature based solutions to flooding aimed at managing the land to reduce the impact of flooding, including tree planting and restoring peatland, sand dune restoration and sea grass restoration. These are not only beneficial for flood management but beneficial to the environment.

Climate change and the decline in biodiversity go hand in hand, we need to preserve nature, combat climate change and provide clean air, water and food sources.

[1] CSPF2023_01_Policy_Brief_2024_04_29_FINAL_0.pdf (crew.ac.uk)

[2] Flood Resilience Strategy – Consultation Document (www.gov.scot)

[3] Flood Resilience Strategy – Consultation Document (www.gov.scot)

[4] Response to the Climate Change Adaptation Plan Consultation. – The Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (cypcs.org.uk)

[5] CSPF2023_01_Policy_Brief_2024_04_29_FINAL_0.pdf (crew.ac.uk)

[6] CSPF2023_01_Policy_Brief_2024_04_29_FINAL_0.pdf (crew.ac.uk)

[7] Chilling figures show children at risk from mould (endfuelpoverty.org.uk)

[8] Death of two-year-old from mould in flat a ‘defining moment’, says coroner | Housing | The Guardian

[9] CSPF2023_01_Policy_Brief_2024_04_29_FINAL_0.pdf (crew.ac.uk)

[10] Children-Young-People-and-Flooding-Report-Final.pdf (nationalfloodforum.org.uk)

[11] ‘Sometimes I feel like I am in prison’: Placing Children in Hotel-Type Accommodation. – The Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (cypcs.org.uk)

[12] CRC/C/GC/26: General comment No. 26 (2023) on children’s rights and the environment with a special focus on climate change | OHCHR