More than 1 billion children face at least three simultaneous climate hazards, Unicef warned this Monday (15) in a report.
The UN agency cross-referenced information on where around 2.4 billion children live with the geographic distribution of the eight most common climate impacts.
These include coastal and river floods, droughts, tropical storms, heat waves, extreme heat, forest fires and sandstorms.
The report focused on about 1.1 billion children exposed to at least three of these threats. According to Unicef, the number of people affected has increased significantly over the last 20 years.
“Children are on the front lines of the impact of climate change,” said Catherine Russell, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Almost all children, around 2.3 billion, are exposed to at least one of the phenomena. And 123,000 are exposed to seven or more, of which 46,000 are in Myanmar.
“We see some hotspots (…) quite concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia,” Tom Slaymaker, one of the report’s authors, told AFP.
Additionally, countries with large child populations, such as Bangladesh, India, Nigeria and Pakistan, top the list for the number of children exposed to three or more risks.
On the other hand, impacts are often worsened by governments’ inability to address climate change.
Chad, for example, faces humanitarian crises with limited access to water, electricity and food. According to the report, more than 95% of children in this country are exposed to at least three of the hazards, one of the highest proportions in the world.
Children are exposed to these threats everywhere, in poor and rich countries alike. “But they are not equal in terms of risks,” noted Slaymaker.
Unicef highlighted the greater “vulnerability” of children depending on their access to some basic services, such as health, food, water, education and protection.
The UN agency publishes the study to help States prepare for the expected worsening of the impact of global warming.
