2025 Action Agenda:
Confronting the 10 Challenges Affecting Children Worldwide

1. Enhanced regulatory frameworks: A turning-point for children’s rights & business 

The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and the anticipated SEC updates on climate-related disclosures are driving companies to be more transparent and accountable – but concerns remain that children are being left behind.

These frameworks challenge businesses to prove how they support children’s rights, tackling issues like child labour, education, and youth wellbeing.

Yet in 2025, as companies rush to meet reporting and benchmarking obligations, a key question remains: Are children considered material enough in these frameworks to inspire real change, or will they remain an afterthought in the race to comply?

For companies lacking knowledge in this area, The Corporate Playbook: Embedding Children’s Rights into ESRS Reporting is a guide developed by Global Child Forum with support from the LEGO Group. It provides organisations with everything they need to be able to integrate children’s rights into the core of their reporting, while enhancing their understanding of – and successfully adhering to – regulations such as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).

2. Listening to children

A powerful movement is reshaping the children’s rights and business agenda: the recognition that involving youth in decisions that affect them is not just the right thing to do—it’s a strategic imperative.

Across industries, some businesses are beginning to show the way by establishing advisory councils, conducting participatory research, and engaging with young voices to align their strategies with the rights and needs of younger generations. At the same time, the growing wave of youth activism—demanding action on issues such as climate change and social justice—has become impossible to ignore.

In 2025, forward-thinking companies will embrace this shift, realising that listening to children isn’t just about compliance; it’s a path to innovation, trust, and long-term relevance.

During our recent Forum at Stockholm Royal Palace, Global Child Forum issued a call-to-action to businesses worldwide: Listen Up! Engage Children as Stakeholders. Read more about this initiative and the event itself, here.

3. Climate change & children: An era-defining challenge 

As the world enters the final stretch of Agenda 2030, climate change looms as one of the most pressing threats to children’s futures.

Displacement, food insecurity, and health crises are no longer distant possibilities—they are today’s realities for millions of children. In 2025, the urgency for businesses to act will reach a critical juncture.

Companies must step up with bold commitments to sustainability, climate adaptation, and child-focused resilience strategies. With growing public awareness and increasing pressure from younger generations, businesses can no longer afford to ignore their role in shaping a livable future for children.

4. Digital wellness: High on the children’s rights & business agenda 

While many things are impacting young people’s mental health, the impact of social media – or what Jonathan Haidt refers to as the Great Rewiring of Childhood – has become a global concern, thrusting digital wellness to the forefront of the children’s rights and business agenda.

During the rapid ascent of social media, few of us understood what was happening in children’s virtual worlds and we lacked the knowledge to protect them from tech companies that had designed their products to be addictive.

Now, with rising regulatory actions, such as Australia’s recent ban on under-16s accessing social media, the demand for accountability and safer digital spaces is intensifying. However, the conversation is still hindered by a lack of robust research and data to inform effective regulations.

In 2025, this issue will not only challenge technology companies to prioritise children’s wellbeing through ethical design and digital literacy, but also create opportunities for innovation.

Companies that lead the way in building safer, healthier online environments will play a direct role in creating a more responsible digital future.

5. Children in conflict

In a world increasingly shaped by conflict, children are bearing the brunt. Their education is interrupted, their physical safety is at risk, and growing household poverty deepens their vulnerability.

According to a recent review by UNICEF, over 473 million children – more than one in six globally – now live in areas affected by conflict, with the world experiencing the highest number of conflicts since World War II. Beyond these immediate impacts on youth, their very childhoods—and futures—are under threat.

As the global community grapples with these crises, businesses have a critical role to play in supporting children and families. In conflict-affected regions, post-conflict reconstruction offers an opportunity to build a better future.

Inclusive rebuilding efforts that prioritise children’s needs can turn despair into hope, ensuring that even amidst the rubble, better futures can be forged.

6. Sustainability’s blind spot: Why children must remain a priority

As Sustainability Managers grapple with competing demands—climate action, biodiversity, circular economies, and new reporting standards—children’s rights risk being sidelined.

This is particularly alarming as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) come into force, requiring businesses to report on human rights impacts, including those affecting children.

If children’s rights are treated as a box-ticking exercise rather than a cornerstone of sustainability, businesses miss a vital opportunity for transformative change.

In 2025, ensuring that children remain at the heart of sustainability agendas will be a defining challenge for companies—and a critical measure of their commitment to long-term impact.

7. Child labour: The challenge persists

Despite decades of global commitments, 160 million children worldwide are subjected to child labour today.

Alarmingly, recent reports of child labour cases in the U.S. have highlighted that this issue is not confined to developing nations, but continues to persist in unexpected contexts.

Recognising this challenge lies beyond emerging markets alone is critical, and businesses bear a responsibility to implement robust due diligence processes, ensuring that children are protected from harm.

Renewed efforts to address this challenge are not only about compliance, but leading the way in ethical and sustainable practices. With growing public awareness and regulatory scrutiny, the call to end child labour has never been clearer—or more urgent.

Does your company need support with preventing and dealing with child labour in its operations? Read our Child Labour Policy Guide.

8. Responsible AI: A key issue for children’s rights & business 

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in everyday life, its impact on children’s rights will be a pivotal issue shaping the business landscape over the coming year and beyond.

While AI offers opportunities to enhance education, accessibility, and safety, it also poses significant risks, including threats to privacy, discrimination, and the misuse of children’s data. With the implementation of regulations like the EU’s AI Act, businesses will face growing scrutiny over how their AI technologies affect young users.

Companies must adopt transparent, ethical practices and rigorous oversight to ensure that AI tools safeguard children’s wellbeing rather than exacerbate vulnerabilities.

In 2025, the responsible development and deployment of AI will be a litmus test for corporate commitment to children’s rights in the digital age.

9. Supply chains: Redefining responsibility for children’s rights

In 2025, supply chain management will emerge as a critical issue shaping the business and children’s rights agenda.

While eradicating child labour remains a pressing priority, the scope of responsibility is expanding. Businesses need to adopt a holistic, child-centric approach, addressing not only child labour but also the broader needs of children within supply chain impacted communities.

This includes ensuring access to education, healthcare, and safe living conditions for children whose lives are intertwined with global commerce.

With heightened public awareness and evolving regulatory demands, companies that proactively integrate children’s rights into their supply chain strategies will set the standard for responsible business, demonstrating that ethical practices can drive both equity and long-term sustainability.

For a valuable industry-level overview of risks connected to child labour – alongside other child rights issues – try our Children’s Rights Industry Risk Tool. 

10. Addressing childhood health

During the next twelve months, the food and beverage industry will face mounting pressure to tackle childhood health issues such as obesity, malnutrition, and food insecurity.

Rising obesity rates and global malnutrition underscore the urgent need for businesses to reformulate products, reduce harmful ingredients, and adopt responsible marketing practices that avoid targeting vulnerable audiences with unhealthy options.

Addressing childhood health will be both a defining challenge, and a significant opportunity for businesses to lead in corporate responsibility.