Implications of Climate Change for Children in Developing Countries Authors: Hanna and Oliva Discussant: Bharadwaj

Motivation More vulnerable than adults Lasting impact of early life shocks Children are not decision makers – Parents might not internalize benefits from investments in children – More likely in developing countries – Child specific mitigation strategies might have less bite in developing countries

Impacts Paper does an excellent job covering a wide range of potential impacts and channels One area that could use more focus is fertility Why fertility: – Unclear how fertility responds to climate change – Look to classic quantity-quality tradeoff model – Can affect investments in children

Policies Current focus on safe nets Better and complete markets in other dimensions can also help – Banks played a role during the dust bowl (Hornbeck 2011) – Adopting better agricultural technology can lessen the impacts (e.g. drought resistant variety of seeds) Markets that are specific to children?

Final thoughts Suppose we know what changes in human behavior can slow the pace of climate change Would developing countries be required to disproportionally adopt these changes? – If so, what are the implications for economic growth? – Can the adoption of such behaviors harm children in the short run due to economic losses?

ABCDE & F Paper is Accurate Paper is as Balanced as can be Paper is Comprehensive (would recommend the addition of a discussion on fertility) Paper is careful with nuances of the research cited (Differentiate) Passes the Everyone test Paper is Fantastic