Save the Children has launched a powerful new report, Born into the Climate Crisis 2: An Unprecedented Life – Protecting Children’s Rights in a Changing Climate, produced in collaboration with leading climate scientists from Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).
Children and young people are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis
Haruka, 16, whose poem is featured in the report, is from Vanuatu, which recently experienced three of the most severe types of cyclone in just a year. She said:
“Cyclones are scary. For me, they continue to destroy my home, every year – we don’t even bother trying to fix the ceiling anymore.
“The past few years, I’ve seen ceaseless destruction and constant rebuilding. This seemingly never-ending cycle has become our reality, and most people aren’t even aware that it’s not just nature doing its thing, but it’s us bearing the brunt of a crisis that we did not cause.”
The findings are stark: Compared to the 2.7 °C global warming we are headed for based on current policy pledges, achieving the Paris Agreement target of limiting warming to 1.5 °C could spare around 58 million children – almost half of all children – born in 2020 from experiencing unprecedented lifetime exposure to the following six climate extremes: heatwaves, crop failures, river floods, cyclones, droughts and wildfires.
The report found that, for children born in 2020, if global temperature rise is limited to 1.5°C rather than reaching 2.7°C above pre-industrial levels:
- About 38 million would be spared from facing unprecedented lifetime exposure to heatwaves;
- About 8 million would avoid unprecedented lifetime exposure to crop failures;
- About 5 million would be spared from unprecedented lifetime exposure to river floods;
- About 5 million would avoid unprecedented lifetime exposure to tropical cyclones;
- About 2 million would avoid unprecedented lifetime exposure to droughts;
- About 1.5 million children would be spared unprecedented lifetime exposure to wildfires.
The window to act is rapidly closing. The window to act is rapidly closing, and it is imperative that leaders step up to protect future generations from the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. The report urges governments to:
- Take ambitious and urgent action now to limit warming to a maximum of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, including by rapidly and equitably phasing out the use, subsidy, and financing of fossil fuels. High-income and high-emitting countries like Canada must lead the way on meeting their fair share.
- Urgently close the adaptation gap and provide loss and damage funding through the provision of new and additional climate finance, prioritising children and child-critical social services, with a particular focus on reaching children most at risk. Climate finance should be delivered primarily in the form of grants and highly concessional finance, particularly for adaptation and loss and damage.
- Center children’s rights and voices in international climate plans, agreements, and decision-making spaces, recognising young people and children as rightsholders and key agents of change in addressing the climate and environmental crises.
As we all know, children and young people are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis despite being the least responsible for it. They are also at the forefront of climate action, advocating for a reduction in inequality, inclusion in climate decision-making spaces, and investments in a safe and liveable future. It’s time for governments, funders, the private sector, and civil society to follow their leadership.
Leave No Child Behind: A Call to Action for Climate Justice and Education
“We can’t negotiate with the climate—and we can’t negotiate with the future of our children. This report makes it clear: we’re failing kids, especially in the Global South. Still, I tell young people not to lose hope. We won’t stop until climate solutions and environmental education reach every child.”
— Andrea Koehle Jones, Executive Director, The ChariTree Foundation
