UNICEF: Around 43 million children displaced by climate change

WEB DESK: A United Nations report released on Friday reveals that more than 43 million children have been displaced due to extreme weather events linked to climate change between 2016 and 2021.

According to DW, The report, compiled by United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), highlights the alarming impact of floods, storms, droughts, and wildfires associated with the climate crisis.

According to the report, if the current rate of climate change persists, over the next 30 years, more than 100 million children and young people could be displaced by weather-related disasters alone. The study emphasiSes the urgent need for action to address the intensifying impacts of climate change on vulnerable populations, particularly children.

Meanwhile, a migration specialist at UNICEF and one of the report’s authors Laura Healy noted, “The reality is that far more children are going to be impacted in the future, as the impacts of climate change continue to intensify.”

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The report brings attention to the age-specific data on internal displacements caused by climate disasters. Collaborating with the non-governmental Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, UNICEF highlights the hidden toll on children, shedding light on the severity of the issue.

Between 2016 and 2021, floods, storms, droughts, and wildfires led to the displacement of 43.1 million children in 44 countries. The report indicates that the frequency of these disasters has increased due to global warming. The majority of displacements (40.9 million or 95 per cent) were attributed to floods and storms.

The report said that droughts displaced over 1.3 million children within their countries, while nearly 810,000 children were uprooted due to forest fires, primarily in Canada, Israel, and the United States. Furthermore, it identifies China and the Philippines as nations where the most children were internally displaced, considering the size of their child populations.

Small island countries like Dominica and Vanuatu were found to be most affected by storms, while children in Somalia and South Sudan were particularly impacted by floods.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell expressed deep concern about the urgency of addressing the challenges faced by children in the wake of climate-induced displacement. “As the impacts of climate change escalate, so too will climate-driven movement. We have the tools and knowledge to respond to this escalating challenge for children, but we are acting far too slowly,” Russell emphasised.