What should the international community do to reduce children’s vulnerability to the effects of climate change? This report analyses the impacts of climate change on children and calls for more and better measures by the international community to mitigate these effects. Donors should increase their aid budgets, mainstream Disaster Risk Reduction in their programming, and ensure a focus on traditionally under-funded areas particularly relevant to children.
Climate change and worsening natural disasters will increasingly impact children’s heath, hunger and nutrition, education, and physical safety. For example:
- Malaria, currently responsible for the deaths of approximately 800 000 children under five per year, is set to increase as a result of global warming.
- There will be new and increasing numbers of areas where disasters will occur, but health systems in many countries are not supported, designed or adequately staffed to manage natural disaster surges.
- The number of children dying each year from malnutrition – currently three and a half million – will increase. Harvest failure, increased food prices, and food insecurity all have a disproportionate effect on children.
- As a result of slow-onset or recurrent natural disasters, parents may be compelled to withdraw their children from school or send them out to work.
- In the aftermath of natural disasters children are at heightened risk of family separation, psychological distress, physical harm, and gender-based violence.
- Climate change is increasingly linked to greater levels of tension and armed conflict, especially in fragile states. In these cases, children are at risk of being abducted and recruited into armed groups.
Children make up more than 50 per cent of those affected by today’s climate crises. It is critically important to respond to the impact of increased disasters on children. The international community must become more flexible and innovative in their programming and approaches. Climate change will demand better disaster response and preparedness. The United Nations estimates that for every one dollar invested in risk management before the onset of a disaster, seven dollars of losses can be prevented. Disaster risk reduction must be mainstreamed into development planning. Specific recommendations include the following:
- Countries that signed the 2005 Hyogo Framework for Action must deliver on their commitments to ensure that Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is a local and national priority.
- Donors should increase their aid budgets. DRR funding from donors should be 10 per cent of their aid budget. This should be additional to and not diverted from existing development and humanitarian budgets.
- Donors should ensure that traditionally under-funded sectors particularly important to children such as education in emergencies, protection, and neonatal health, are better supported.
