UNITED NATIONS:
More than a billion children face at least three overlapping climate hazards, with 34 million in Pakistan, UNICEF warned on Monday, while highlighting the disproportionate impact in some regions of the world.
For the report, the UN agency cross-referenced data showing where the roughly 2.4 billion children on the planet live with the geographic distribution of the eight most common climate impacts. These are coastal floods, river floods, droughts, tropical storms, heat waves – at least three days above a high temperature threshold, which varies from country to country – extreme heat, wildfires and sandstorms.
The report focuses primarily on the 1.1 billion children exposed to at least three risks, with the most common combination being drought, extreme heat (over 35 degrees Celsius) and heat waves.
This combination affects about 296 million children, including 74 million in Nigeria, 34 million in Pakistan and 32 million in India.
The number of children in this category with three or more has increased sharply over the past 20 years.
Almost all children – about 2.3 billion – are exposed to at least one risk. Two billion are exposed to at least two, while 364 million face at least four.
Of the 123,000 children exposed to seven or more climate hazards, around 46,000 are in Myanmar.
“Children are at the forefront of the impact of climate change,” said UNICEF chief Catherine Russell.
As for the worst place for a child, “there’s not a super short answer,” one of the report’s authors, Tom Slaymaker, told AFP.
‘Hot spots’
“But they’re not all equal,” Slaymaker said. “We’re seeing some hot spots… it’s really concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia.”
Countries with large populations of children – including Bangladesh, India, Nigeria and Pakistan – top the list for the number of children exposed to at least three hazards.
But in pure percentage terms, countries in Africa south of the Sahara – especially the Sahel – have the largest proportion of children affected by dangers. The impacts are often exacerbated by the inability of governments to deal with climate hazards.
Chad, for example, is facing a humanitarian crisis with limited access to water, electricity and food. According to the report, more than 95 percent of children in the country are exposed to at least three hazards – one of the highest rates in the world.
Other particularly vulnerable countries include 39 island states that face challenges such as limited fresh water, import dependence and the inability to easily seek shelter elsewhere after a disaster such as a hurricane.
No country is truly spared, the report shows.
