Virtually no child on the planet will escape the impact of global warming, according to a UNICEF report published on Friday.
UNICEF’s report, the first of its kind, found that almost all of the world’s 2.2 billion children are exposed to at least one climate or environmental risk, from floods to toxic air, Reuters reports.
A few months ahead of the COP26 in Glasgow, youth activists are urging world leaders to take action rather than just talk.
“I don’t expect them to do that, but I would be more than happy if they could prove me wrong,” Greta Thunberg told journalists on the third anniversary of Fridays For Future, a global youth movement that started with her solo climate protest outside her Swedish school.
After months of extreme weather events and following the UN’s IPCC report, “there’s no excuse for this COP… to not be the one that changes things,” said young activist Mitzi Jonelle Tan.
UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore said young people all over the world were leading by example, citing a survey by the UN agency that found that 9 out of 10 young people in 21 countries felt it was their responsibility to tackle climate change.
The UNICEF index shows that children are more at risk than adults, being less able to survive extreme weather events and more susceptible to toxic chemicals, temperature changes, and disease.
Children in mostly African low-emission countries are uniquely vulnerable and face a “deadly combination” of extreme weather events, climate catastrophe, and existing issues such as poverty and insecurity.
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