774m children globally impoverished, exposed to high climate risk ― Report

An estimated 774 million children across the world (one-third of the world’s child population) are living with the dual impacts of poverty and high climate risk, a new report by Save the Children has disclosed.

In the new report’s analysis, it was revealed that India has the highest total number of children living in poverty and bearing the brunt of the climate crisis — up to 223 million, followed by Nigeria and Ethiopia, with 58 million and 36 million children respectively, living with this double burden.

The report listed South Sudan (87%), followed by the Central African Republic (85%) and Mozambique (80%) as countries with the highest percentage of children impacted by this double burden.

“Generation Hope: 2.4 billion reasons to end the global climate and inequality crisis, developed by the child rights organisation with climate modelling from researchers at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), found that while 80 per cent of children are estimated to be affected by at least one extreme climate event a year, some are at particular risk because they also face poverty and so have less capacity to protect themselves and recover.

“A significant number of children – 121 million – experiencing the double threat of high climate risk and poverty live in higher income countries, with 28 million of them in the world’s most affluent countries. More than two out of five of these children (12.3 million) live in the US or the UK.,” the report from Save the Children, read.

In addition, it noted that across the globe, 183 million children faced the triple threat of high climate risk, poverty and conflict.

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Out of the total child population experiencing this triple burden, it listed the children in Burundi (63%), Afghanistan (55%) and the Central African Republic (41%) as the most affected.

The new report builds on ground-breaking research published by Save the Children in partnership with Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 2021, which found that children born in 2020 will on average face seven times more scorching heatwaves during their lives than their grandparents, and newborns across the globe will on average life through 2.6 times more droughts.

The report comes as families across the world battle the worst global hunger crisis this century, fuelled by a deadly mix of poverty, conflict, climate change, and economic shocks, with the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis in Ukraine further driving up food prices and the cost of living. One million people are facing famine across five countries, with estimates that one person is dying every four seconds of hunger.

Save the Children says the climate and inequality crisis is a risk-multiplier, eroding children’s and communities’ resilience to shocks.

If it is not urgently addressed, it said the frequency and severity of humanitarian and cost of living crises are set to increase in the years ahead.

Drawing on insights from the 54,000 children, Save the Children heard in a major consultation conducted between May and August 2022, the report also shows how these multiple, overlapping risks are linked to and exacerbate the current global food, nutrition and cost-of-living crisis that is causing 345 million people in 82 countries to face a severe lack of food.

Luciano, 12, lives in a displacement camp in Malawi. His family lost their home after cyclone Ana ripped through the island where they lived. His family climbed out of the house and onto a tree, but Luciano’s younger brother was washed away by the floods.

Luciano said: “We moved to the camp because water flooded on the other side of the river and it surprised us at night when we were sleeping. Our ducks began getting out of the house including our chickens. They all started being pushed in circles by the waters. We tried to save the ducks and the chickens, but all we managed to save was a few of our clothes. We tried to save more items, but we couldn’t. My little brother was on top of the house. Whilst he was on top, the house collapsed, and suddenly he was gone.”

“At the camp, we do not eat enough food. When I used to live on the other side of the river, I was not like this. Now I have lost some weight. But I have hope and I would like to live the life I lived before the floods, again.”

“I am always anxious that the floods will hit again because when they hit last time, they created a stream near our house that can easily flood when it rains.”

Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, said: “Across the world, inequalities are deepening the climate emergency and its impacts, most notably for children and low-income households.

“Given the scale of the challenge, it would be easy to fall into despair. But we, as today’s generation of adults, must learn from children such as Luciano and dig deep into our reserves of hope for a greener and more just world. We must use this hope to drive action with children, putting our capacity for creativity and collaboration to work to end the climate and inequality crisis and push for the protection and fulfilment of children’s rights.

“As leaders prepare to travel to the COP27 and G20 summits, they should have the rights and voices of children at the front of their minds. It is imperative that they secure ambitious outcomes, ensuring children have safe and meaningful ways to input into decision-making. In particular, the world’s richest countries, whose historic emissions have driven the climate and inequality crisis, must lead the way in unlocking financing for countries that are struggling to protect children from its impacts, including through fixing the global debt relief system and through climate finance – particularly for adaptation and loss and damage”.

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