UNICEF has published a report under title called “Unless we act now” , ahead of the 21st United Nations climate change conference, known as COP21.
This report looks at how children, and particularly the most vulnerable, are affected by climate change and what concrete steps need to be taken to protect them.
According to a report by UNICEF, Today’s children, and their children, are the ones who will live with the consequences of climate change.
UNICEF said in the report, “Children will bear the brunt of climate change. They are already bearing a lot of the impact.”
Major Findings of the Report:
- Nearly 690 million of the world’s 2.3 billion children live in areas most exposed to climate change, facing higher rates of death, poverty and disease from global warming.
- The vast majority of the children (Almost 530 million) living in areas at extremely high risk of floods are in Asia.
- The majority (160 million kids) of those in areas at risk of drought are in Africa.
- Climate change means more droughts, floods, heat waves and other severe weather conditions.
- These events can cause death and devastation, and can also contribute to the increased spread of major killers of children, such as malnutrition, malaria and diarrhea.
- Of the 160 million children who live in areas affected by severe droughts, almost 50 million are in countries where half or more of the population lives on less than four dollars per day.
Vicious Circle of Climate Change
- A child deprived of adequate water and sanitation before a crisis will be more affected by a flood, drought, or severe storm, less likely to recover quickly, and at even greater risk when faced with a subsequent crisis.
- Heat waves cause more severe rashes, cramps, exhaustion and dehydration, which is a common cause of hyperthermia and death among infants and young children.
- According to Nicholas Rees, a policy specialist at UNICEF, “Climate change makes existing inequalities worse, A poor child and a rich child don’t stand the same chances when a flood or a drought hits”
Steps need to be taken
- According to report, the most urgent task is for world governments to agree on curbing greenhouse gas emissions, but action is also needed on the national level to deal with the impact.
- When impacts occur, children must still be able to go to school and get the health care they need.
