Climate change and impacts

This report builds on 2021’s Children’s Climate Risk Index and examines water scarcity and water vulnerability along with the critical actions the international community must take at COP28 to protect children against climate change. Climate change is changing children Water scarcity and water vulnerability Critical actions to ensure a livable…, The climate crisis is not just changing the planet – it is changing children. From the moment of conception until they grow into adulthood, the health and development of children’s brains, lungs, immune systems and other critical functions are affected by the environment they grow up in. Geography does not protect against climate change; it is…, Water scarcity and water vulnerability, UNICEF’s 2021 landmark Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI) report found that 1 billion children are at extremely high risk of the impacts of the climate crisis and examined eight components of climate and environmental shocks and stresses. This report builds on the CCRI and examines one of these components – water scarcity (the physical…, Sources: WRI, 2023, Aqueduct 4.0 and NASA, 2023, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Vegetation Indices Monthly (MOD13A3) Version 6.1. World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) projection., UNICEF Map of Water Vulnerability Index Map of Water Vulnerability Index, Sources: WRI, 2023, Aqueduct 4.0 and NASA, 2023, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Vegetation Indices Monthly (MOD13A3) Version 6.1. World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) projection., UNICEF A map showing water scarcity Map of Water Vulnerability Index, Critical actions to ensure a livable planet for children, COP28 is a critical juncture in the fight against climate change. World leaders and the international community must take critical steps with and for children to elevate children’s needs and rights within the UNFCCC framework to secure a livable planet. Blocks A teenager sitting outside her temporary classroom UNICEF/UN0831644/Andriantsorana Nady…, Download the full report, November 2023, The climate-changed child A CHILDREN'S CLIMATE RISK INDEX SUPPLEMENT . Published by UNICEFDivision of Global Communication and Advocacy3 United Nations PlazaNew York, NY 10017, USAContact: pubdoc@unicef.org Website: www.unicef.org Suggested citation. United Nations Children's Fund, The climate-changed child: A children's climate risk index…

The climate crisis is rapidly accelerating and with it, heatwaves are becoming longer, stronger, more widespread and more frequent. Already, around 559 million children are exposed to high heatwave frequency and around 624 million children are exposed to one of three other high heat measures - high heatwave duration, high heatwave severity or…

With the climate crisis here and accelerating, every child on every continent is facing more frequent, severe,  and destructive climate hazards including air pollution, water scarcity, heatwaves, vector-borne disease, cyclones, and river and coastal flooding. There is a brief window of time to avoid the very worst of the climate crisis, and…

Goal Area 4 of the 2018-2021 UNICEF Strategic Plan encompasses four results areas: (1) WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), (2) disaster risk reduction, resilience strengthening and peacebuilding, (3) urban programming and local governance, and (4) climate, energy and the environment. Good progress was made across all of these areas despite the…, UNICEF set its most ambitious WASH target ever for the 2018–2021 Strategic Plan: to reach 60 million people with water and sanitation services in their communities through direct support. The target was achieved, an exceptional result given the operational challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. GARR2021-Goal-are-4-figure-1 Number of additional…, girl-drinking-water Disaster risk reduction, resilience strengthening and peacebuilding, UNICEF helps to reduce the risk of disasters and strengthen resilience in the countries where it works, investing more than US$250 million across 150 countries over the 2018-2021 period. In 2021, UNICEF helped strengthen early warning systems in 27 countries, supported the updating of 44 preparedness plans and provided risk-assessment support for…, children-filling-water-can Urban programming and local governance, Over the four-year Strategic Plan period, UNICEF expanded its engagement in local governance and urban programming in response to increasing inequities within countries and deepening deprivations that affect children in their communities. UNICEF supported urban-specific interventions in over 100 countries globally and has engaged with 3,845…, youth-planting-tree Climate, energy and the environment, The climate and environment crisis is a crisis for children, threatening their development and their very existence. In 2021, UNICEF released the Children’s Climate Risk Index, the first global atlas of climate and environmental risk from a child right’s perspective, showing that almost every child is now exposed to at least one climate or…, smiling-girl-holding-water-can Looking forward, The new UNICEF 2022-2025 Strategic Plan defines how UNICEF will contribute to child-related SDGs over the next four years, defining the pathways to achieve an inclusive recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and, ultimately, the realization of a society in which every child is included and has agency, opportunity and their rights…, Read more and support our work, June 2022, Global Annual Results Report 2021 GOAL AREA 4 Every child lives in a safe and clean environment Cover image: UNICEF/UN0560201/Dubourthoumieu Souza Mbomba, 19 years old, draws water from a new spring-sourced water system developed with the support of UNICEF in Mutonji district, Kasai Oriental province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.…

Climate change is already a direct challenge to children’s rights and well-being. One billion children – nearly half of children globally – are at ‘extremely high risk’ of its impacts . They face a deadly combination of exposure to multiple climate shocks and limited access to services that build their resilience. The climate is changing…

The climate crisis is a child rights crisis  presents the Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI), which uses data to generate new global evidence on how many children are currently exposed to climate and environmental hazards, shocks and stresses. A composite index, the CCRI brings together geographical data by analyzing 1.) exposure to climate and…, August 2021, The climate crisis is a child rights crisisIntroducing THE CHILDRENS CLIMATE RISK INDEX . Published by UNICEFDivision of Communication3 United Nations PlazaNew York, NY 10017, USA Contact: pubdoc@unicef.org Website: www.unicef.org Suggested citation. The Climate Crisis is a Child Rights Crisis:: Introducing the Childrens Climate Risk Index. New…

Today, 1.42 billion people – including 450 million children – live in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability. Less than 3 per cent of the world’s water resources is freshwater, and it is growing increasingly scarce. Decades of misuse, poor management, over-extraction of groundwater and contamination of freshwater supplies have…