UNICEF is launching a report written by two KI researchers that describes the devastating consequences of climate change for children's health globally. The report summarises research from the field and over 30 experts. It identifies the six main climate hazards and shows that they pose a serious threat to children's health and well-being.
"Research on how climate affects human health is developing rapidly and we are learning more every month. When it comes to how climate change affects children's health specifically, there have been many new studies, but at the same time there has been no overall concrete summary, which makes the area difficult to understand", says Daniel Helldén, researcher at the Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet.
Daniel Helldén and Tobias Alfvén, researchers at the same department, together with UNICEF, have conducted a literature review and gathered insights from over 30 experts in health and climate change. The results are presented in the report A Threat to Progress: Confronting the effects of climate change on child health and well-being.
Major climate-related hazards
Despite great successes over the past 30 years in reducing child mortality, the report shows that climate change poses a severe threat to child health and well-being.
Children are disproportionately affected because they are uniquely vulnerable to environmental hazards compared to adults due to physiological, psychosocial and behavioural factors. For example, children are less able to regulate body heat and have lower absorptive capacity than adults, which is particularly dangerous during heat waves.
The report identifies six major hazards that affect children's health: extreme heat, drought, wildfires, floods and storms, air pollution and ecosystem changes.
These hazards can lead to adverse birth outcomes, increased risk of death in neonates and infants, and the intensification of infectious diseases like malaria.
Climate-related hazards exacerbate problems such as food and water shortages, infrastructure damage, service disruptions and displacement. These factors, together with socio-economic status, gender, location and pre-existing health conditions, influence the extent of the impact on children.
Recommendations for action
The report calls for urgent action to reduce emissions and meet the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C limit, protect children from climate impacts, and prioritise children's health in climate policy.
Specific actions include providing information to health care providers, strengthening climate-resilient primary health care and ensuring access to nutritious food and clean water.
"The aim is for the report to inform researchers, policy makers and organisations ahead of and during the climate negotiations in Azerbaijan during COP29", says Daniel Helldén.
