Climate change

Excellencies, Children are growing up in a world of increasing dangers due to environmental degradation and climate change. Safeguarding children and future generations from escalating climate threats requires immediate and decisive action. I am honoured to deliver this statement on behalf of 68 members of the Group of Friends of Children and the…

UNICEF’s Sustainability and Climate Change Action Plan 2023-2030 guides communities, governments and global leaders to work together to prioritize children’s needs. By 2030, UNICEF with partners, aspires to reach 500 million children in 100 countries with integrated climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction solutions, including 30…, Our commitments, UNICEF endorses the COP28 Relief, Recovery and Peace Declaration and has pledged the following commitments, Climate and disaster financing for children, To address the ever-widening finance gap for climate resilience and disaster risk reduction, UNICEF launched the Today & Tomorrow Initiative, the world’s first integrated climate and disaster risk finance solution for children. Today & Tomorrow combines climate resilience and risk prevention programmes “today” with an innovative use of…, Early warning systems and child-responsive preparedness, Child-responsive early warning systems are essential for protecting the most vulnerable members of society when disasters strike. Yet, half of countries globally are not protected by early warning systems, with the lowest coverage in Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries.   The Secretary General’s Early Warnings for All…, Child-focused climate and disaster risk analysis, Risk information is required to develop strategies and programmes that help build climate-resilient services for children, including preparedness, response and national and subnational recovery efforts. In many countries, there is a lack of disaggregated, timely, geo-referenced, subnational data at high resolution vital for targeted action (…, Conflict-sensitive and peacebuilding programming, Many of the most climate vulnerable countries are also affected by conflict, which undermines state capacity to prevent, mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. It is essential that we ensure support to countries to address conflict and climate risks. UNICEF’s Strategic Plan (2022-2025) elevates peacebuilding as a priority and aims to…, About the Declaration, The Climate Relief, Recovery, and Peace Declaration is a voluntary commitment to increase climate adaptation efforts and access to finance for communities and countries threatened or affected by fragility or conflict, or facing high humanitarian needs and insecurity; to strengthen knowledge and programmatic solutions for climate action in such…

Capgemini in support of UNICEF, Capgemini, among the first private sector partners to join the Green Rising initiative As part of its commitment towards communities around the world, Capgemini joins UNICEF on a three-year partnership to support the Green Rising initiative.  Implemented by Generation Unlimited , this initiative aims to support the mobilization of millions of…

Learn more about climate and environment

What’s happening in the Horn of Africa?, A prolonged drought across large swathes of Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya has unleashed hunger, thirst, displacement and death on already vulnerable communities as crops fail and livestock die. Communities have been forced to take extreme measures to survive, with thousands of children and families leaving their homes out of pure desperation in…, Recent news and features, How are children affected?, Consecutive seasons of poor rainfall has killed crops, animals and livestock, resulting in the loss of nutritious food. This, coupled with poor access to safe water and sanitation, has left many children at a high risk of malnutrition. As a result, the number of children in the Horn of Africa region who are suffering from severe acute malnutrition…, Learn about UNICEF’s work in the Horn of Africa, Djibouti, Find out more, Eritrea, Find out more, Ethiopia, Find out more, Kenya, Find out more, Somalia, Find out more, Eastern and Southern Africa, Find out more, How is UNICEF responding to climate crises in the region?, UNICEF is working to ensure that drought-affected children and families can receive the lifesaving support they so urgently need, while also supporting their recovery and building resilience against future shocks. Somalia. A mobile health and nutrition team provides treatment for internally displaced persons at a camp in Mogadishu. A mobile health…, UNICEF is working with partners to:, Provide access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. This includes emergency water trucking, urgent rehabilitation and repairs of water supply systems, drilling new boreholes, and hygiene promotion activities. Ensure access to nutritional support. This includes increasing procurement of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) and expanding the…, What next?, In July 2022, UNICEF  launched a regional call to action to address the drought crisis. Thanks to early and rapid interventions by partners and donors in 2022, UNICEF provided lifesaving aid to children and communities across the region.  But food insecurity and other needs remain high due to the sheer magnitude of the crisis and the years of…

The climate is changing everywhere, and uprooted children and young people – whether living in protracted displacement, refugee camps, urban slums or booming mega cities – are among the most exposed to its impacts. Millions of children around the world are on the move, driven from their homes by weather-related events, exacerbated by climate…, What’s at stake?, 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. Three-year-olds today face a…, Mobility – a consequence and a coping strategy, It’s already clear that even with major progress to mitigate the impacts of climate change, migration will continue to be an adaptation strategy, particularly for young people. This is especially the case where climate change impedes economic opportunities and interacts with conflict and fragility. For young people in particular, migration can…, Children and young people as agents for change, Having adapted to climate change themselves, young people uprooted in the context of climate change have critical skills, experience and ideas needed by societies everywhere. They can play a key role in addressing climate-related risks by exercising their views, opinions and concerns, identifying and working on solutions, and promoting…, Call to action on climate mobility, Our success in empowering young people will depend on the choices we make today and in the coming years. Policy choices, and investment choices. The window to prepare for the impacts of climate change is closing quickly, but prioritizing the following urgent actions – developed with and for young people – could lead to better outcomes for children…, Resources, Guiding Principles for Children on the Move in the Context of Climate Change Children’s Climate Risk Index Futures at Risk – Protecting the Rights of Children on the Move in a Changing Climate Climate Mobility and Children: A Virtual Symposium Children Uprooted in the Caribbean

Stronger hurricanes are devastating communities, uprooting lives and putting children and their families at risk., The 29 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Caribbean are home to about 43 million people, including 12.6 million children. In recent years, these children and their families have become among the most vulnerable people in the world to the effects of drought, storms and flooding – events that are increasing in intensity and occurrence…, Issue at a glance, Dominican Republic. A child stands in front of a destroyed home. A boy stands in front of the remains of some houses after Hurricane Irma hit the Dominican Republic in September 2017. What’s happening? In the past five years, the number of people internally displaced by storms and flooding increased six-fold in the Caribbean SIDS. From 2014 to…, What is UNICEF doing?, UNICEF works with partners throughout the Caribbean to protect and support children, including supporting resilience planning and working to establish disaster-risk reduction strategies that limit forced displacement and shorten rehabilitation time – so families can return home. In the wake of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti in October 2016, UNICEF…, Call to action: Climate change, The worst effects of climate change are not inevitable. But to reduce the impact on children of extreme weather events caused by climate change, UNICEF supports action in four key areas: Putting children at the heart of climate change strategies and response plans. As the ones who are the least responsible for climate change but who will bear the…, Call to action: Children Uprooted, Antigua. A child studies with a tutor. A girl studies with a tutor on the island of Antigua after she and her family were evacuated to Antigua from Barbuda following Hurricane Irma in September 2017. Around the world, millions of children and families flee their homes to escape the impact of climate change, disaster, conflict, persecution, and…

Climate change is here. As its impact intensifies over time, it is the children and young people of today who will face the worst effects. But far from being passive victims, young people all over the world have begun to fight back on a scale never seen before. Take Greta Thunberg. In 2018, the 15-year-old from Sweden sparked a global movement of…, More from UNICEF

Children around the world are feeling the impacts of climate change.