Between 2016 and 2021, about 43 million children were displaced due to extreme weather events, including floods, droughts, storms, and wildfires, according to a United Nations report, released by UNICEF.
The report warns that if climate change continues at its current pace, more than 100 million children and young people could face displacement due to weather disasters in the next three decades.
Laura Healy, a migration specialist at UNICEF and one of the report’s authors, emphasizes the escalating consequences of climate change, stating, “The reality is that far more children are going to be impacted in the future, as the impacts of climate change continue to intensify.”
While data on internal displacements caused by climate disasters typically do not account for the age of the victims, UNICEF collaborated with the non-governmental Internal Displacement Monitoring Center to unearth the hidden toll on children.
The report reveals that from 2016 to 2021, climate disasters, including floods, storms, droughts, and wildfires, forced the displacement of 43.1 million children across 44 countries. The frequency of these disasters has surged due to global warming.
Of these displacements, a staggering 95 percent (40.9 million) were attributed to floods and storms.
Droughts led to over 1.3 million children being internally displaced within their countries, while nearly 810,000 children were uprooted due to forest fires, particularly in Canada, Israel, and the United States.
The report identifies China and the Philippines as nations with a significant number of internally displaced children. However, it highlights that children in small island countries like Dominica and Vanuatu are disproportionately affected by storms, while children in Somalia and South Sudan bear the brunt of flood-related displacements.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell expressed deep concern about the urgency of addressing this crisis for children.
She emphasized the need to strengthen preparedness, protect at-risk children, and provide support to those already displaced by climate-induced events.
Russell urged swift action in the face of the escalating challenge posed by climate change, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding the well-being and future of the world’s children.
