Early Childhood Climate Summit set for March 17

Leaders in health, climate, education, and community development will gather in San Mateo County to discuss how climate change affects young children and the spaces where they live, learn, and grow.

The BUGS Early Childhood Climate Summit will take place Tuesday, March 17 from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm in the Farallon Room at Skyline College in San Bruno. The summit is part of Build Up Green Spaces (BUGS), an initiative launched in 2025 to strengthen climate resilience in early care and learning environments. At the core of the effort is the nation’s first county-level Early Childhood Climate Action Plan.

For the Menlo Park–based Community Equity Collaborative (CEC), involvement in this work reflects a long-standing commitment to improving early childhood opportunities for families across the Peninsula. In partnership with Build Up San Mateo County, CEC helped research and write the San Mateo County Early Childhood Climate Action Plan.

The plan examines how climate change affects child care facilities and outlines strategies to help centers adapt to heat, wildfire smoke, flooding, and other disruptions. It also offers policy recommendations and calls for stronger collaboration among government, environmental organizations, public health experts, and early learning leaders to ensure children and child care providers are included in San Mateo County’s broader climate resilience strategy.

As CEC Executive Director Dayna Chung notes, “You cannot solve for something you do not name — and most climate action plans do not mention children at all.”

The plan also highlights how climate impacts are not felt equally across communities on the Peninsula, with some neighborhoods experiencing disproportionate environmental burdens. For example, tree canopy coverage is significantly lower in some areas —including Ravenswood, North Fair Oaks, and East Palo Alto — than in other parts of the region, leaving many child care centers with hotter, less-shaded outdoor play spaces.

Recent pilot projects with Canopy illustrate how multi-sector collaboration can advance practical solutions for children and child care providers. The projects include planting trees at Izzi Early Education centers in Ravenswood and North Fair Oaks to improve shade, air quality, and outdoor learning environments.

The event is free and open to the public, and Peninsula residents — including families, educators, and community members from Menlo Park and neighboring communities —are invited to attend. Register in advance online.

InMenlo file photo (c) 2014