One in three children face double threat of climate risk, poverty: Save the Children

One third of the world's child population, approximately 774 million children, are at risk of facing double the impacts of poverty and climate crisis, according to a new report by Save the Children.

The country with the highest percentage of children impacted by this double burden is South Sudan (87%), followed by the Central African Republic (85%) and Mozambique (80%), states the report.

While 80% of children are estimated to be affected by at least one extreme climate event a year, some are at particular risk because they also face poverty and so have less capacity to protect themselves and recover, according to "Generation Hope: 2.4 billion reasons to end the global climate and inequality crisis", developed by the child rights organisation with climate modelling from researchers at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).

The analysis revealed that India has the highest total number of children both living in poverty and bearing the brunt of the climate crisis — up to 223 million children in total. It is followed by Nigeria and Ethiopia, with 58 million and 36 million children, respectively.

A significant number of children – 121 million – experiencing the double threat live in higher income countries, with 28 million of them in the world's most affluent countries. More than two out of five of these children (12.3 million) live in the US or the UK, the report notes.

Across the globe, 183 million children face the triple threat of high climate risk, poverty and conflict. Out of the total child population experiencing this triple burden, the children in Burundi (63%), Afghanistan (55%) and the Central African Republic (41%) are the most affected.

Save the Children says the climate and inequality crisis is a risk-multiplier, eroding children's and communities' resilience to shocks. If it is not urgently addressed, the frequency and severity of humanitarian and cost of living crises are set to increase in the years ahead.

The report also discusses how multiple, overlapping risks exacerbate the current global food, nutrition and cost of living crisis that is causing 345 million people in 82 countries to face a severe lack of food.

Luciano, 12, lives in a displacement camp in Malawi. His family lost their home after cyclone Ana ripped through the island where they lived. His family climbed out of the house and onto a tree, but Luciano's younger brother was washed away by the floods.

"At the camp we do not eat enough food. But I have hope and I would like to live the life I lived before the floods, again," he said.

Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, said, "Across the world, inequalities are deepening the climate emergency and its impacts, most notably for children and low-income households.

"We must use this hope to drive action with children, putting our capacity for creativity and collaboration to work to end the climate and inequality crisis and push for the protection and fulfilment of children's rights.

"As leaders prepare to travel to the COP27 and G20 summits, they should have the rights and voices of children at the front of their minds. The world's richest countries must lead the way in unlocking financing for countries that are struggling to protect children from its impacts, fixing the global debt relief system and through climate finance - particularly for adaptation and loss and damage".

The new report builds on the research published by Save the Children in partnership with Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 2021, which found that children born in 2020 will on average face seven times more scorching heatwaves during their lives than their grandparents, and newborns across the globe will on average live through 2.6 times more droughts.