As world leaders prepare to meet at the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan this week, new analysis by the child rights organisation showed that from 1 January until 29 October, about 300 million children across Asia, Africa and Brazil - some 12.5% of the total child population of 2.4 billion - were affected by the worst extreme climate events.[1]
These included:
- Tropical Storm Trami, which tore through the Philippines weeks ago and suspended schools for 19.5 million children;[2]
- Drought in Southern Africa which the UN says is the worst in over 100 years, putting 12.2 million children in need of humanitarian assistance;
- Flooding across West and Central Africa that forced 10 million children out of school;
- An unprecedented heatwave across South Asia which drove 256 million children out of school;
- Typhoon Yagi, which tore through Southeast Asia in September and put around 1.5 million children in need of humanitarian assistance.
Children were also impacted by other instances of floods, cyclones and monsoons across Bangladesh, the Horn of Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan, and Brazil.
With climate change, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe, with children often bearing the brunt of these disasters. The World Meteorological Organization has estimated the number of global extreme weather events has increased five-fold in the past 50 years.
Save the Children said the analysis showing the extent to which children are impacted highlights the urgency to put children at the centre of every level of the climate change response at the COP29 climate change summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.
With the majority of the children affected living in low- and middle-income countries, world leaders need more than ever to prioritise the voices and experiences of children living with poverty, inequality and discrimination.
Save the Children Vanuatu is supporting a youth ambassador from the Pacific Island nation to attend the global climate summit to ensure that the voices of children, including those from countries most at risk from the climate crisis, are heard and amplified.
Vanuatu is one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and disasters. Save the Children Vanuatu NextGen Youth Ambassador, Gabrielle Kaltongga, 15, will be travelling to Baku this week for the summit. She says:
"I think as a young person from Vanuatu that has lived here for my whole life, my main message for people to hear would be that climate change is real, and we need action."
"We need to phase out of fossil fuels and provide justice for our communities that are so harshly affected by and vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. We need people to see us and hear our voices so that we can initiate change before the climate clock runs out."
The impacts of the climate crisis are felt not just in our region, but across the globe as floods in northeast Nigeria uprooted Kyariyam*, 12, and her family from their home in September. They are now living in a camp for displaced people.[3]
She said: "The flood destroyed everything in our home [...] It washed away our clothes, school uniforms, and books. It's something I will never forget. This is the first time I've ever seen such a flood. I never imagined water could submerge an entire house in just a few minutes."
"Half our school was completely destroyed. I feel really bad that I'm no longer able to go to school. I constantly worry about how I will catch up."
Recent research from the World Bank found that on average, a staggering 400 million students have experienced school closures from extreme weather since 2022.[4]
Kyariyam said she wants world leaders at COP29 to step up to support her community.
She said: "I would ask them to help rebuild our communities and schools. They should create proper water channels to prevent future floods. We also need support with school uniforms and books to return to learning." [5]
According to the UN, human-induced climate change has also aggravated the El Nino-linked drought that has scorched land and destroyed harvests across southern Africa for most of this year, in a region where 70% of the population relies on agriculture to survive. The UN has called this the worst drought in 100 years.
Zinhle, 14, is from Zimbabwe, where planting was delayed by two months or more, significantly affecting maize yields, and putting 7.6 million people – 47% of the population - at risk of acute hunger.
Her mother – a single parent – used to sell goats which provided her with the means to pay for school fees. But almost all their livestock died due to shortage of food and water.
Zinhle said: "We ploughed our fields, but all the crops were burnt by the sun, and we didn't get anything from the fields. At home, we used to eat three meals a day, but now we eat two meals."
Zinhle said some of her friends have been so badly affected that they have had to drop out of school to seek work in a mine.
She continued: "I would like to tell the global leaders that the drought is affecting us. They should come up with solutions that will keep us in school because if we drop out of school, we won't have a good future." [6]
At COP29 in Baku, Save the Children is calling for children's rights, voices, and unique vulnerabilities to be factored into the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) that will be agreed this year as well as national and global adaptation plans.[6] Save the Children is also calling for improved opportunities for child's participation at COP, so that they can be involved in the decision-making that affects them.
Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, said:
"Climate change is not just a problem for future generations - it is a current and devastating crisis which this year alone has significantly impacted 1 in 10 of the world's children. It leaves many fleeing their homes, becoming reliant on humanitarian aid or missing out on their education."
"This reality exposes a glaring inequality gap, with lower-and middle-income countries bearing the brunt of life-altering extreme weather events."
"This is a matter of climate justice. At this year's COP, the rights, voices, and unique vulnerabilities of children must be a top priority in critical discussions on climate finance, adaptation and the wider negotiations. This is not just a climate crisis, it's a child rights crisis - and urgent action from world leaders is non-negotiable."
