About 48 million children a year*, or 136,000 children a day, have been affected by climate disasters since the first COP climate summit was held 30 years* ago to address the escalating global climate crisis, according to new Save the Children analysis on the eve of COP30.
Despite three decades of pledges and some progress, the 30th UN climate summit takes place against a backdrop of catastrophic climate disasters that are forcing millions of children from their homes, disrupting their education, and causing hunger and threats to their health and safety.1
These disasters, that underscore the urgent need for decisive climate action, include heatwaves and wildfires across parts of Europe, deadly floods across Asia, Latin America and parts of Africa, as well as back-to-back tropical typhoons and cyclones in the Philippines.
Save the Children said the urgency to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C warming target set in 2015 is slipping away as most countries have not yet submitted new pledges2 and urged remaining countries to submit their national plans with ambition.
The ambition gap is stark; pledges submitted so far would collectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions by only 17% below 2019 levels by the year 2035, a fraction of the roughly 60% global reduction required to limit warming to 1.5°C.3
Research developed by Vrije Universiteit Brussel and released by Save the Children earlier this year showed that almost a third of today’s five-year-olds – about 38 million children – will be spared a lifetime’s “unprecedented” exposure to extreme heat if the 1.5°C target is reached.
While the number of children affected each year since the first COP summit in 1995 has varied significantly, children in poorer countries are consistently disproportionately impacted. Children from low or lower-middle income countries make up over 80% of those affected each year on average.
Save the Children looked at the number of people affected by floods, storms, wildfires, droughts and heatwaves in the three decades since the first COP conference in 1995 using the EM-DAT International Disasters database to estimate the average number of children each year injured or rendered in need of shelter or other immediate assistance as a result of these disasters.*
Malietasi Bulu, 24, is deeply familiar with the impacts of the climate crisis.
Malietasi, a climate justice advocate who is part of Save the Children NextGen Youth Ambassador Initiative, comes from Vanuatu – a country that contributes minimally to global emissions yet suffers from the impacts of climate change. This includes rising sea levels and coastal erosion which contribute to food shortages and impact livelihoods.4
Malietasi said:
“We need serious global collaboration and urgent commitment to climate mitigation, disaster risk reduction, adaptation and loss and damage. This is not just the Pacific’s fight—it is a global fight.”
In Australia, 23-year-old Sophia is also no stranger to the impacts of climate fuelled disasters.
When she was 10 years old, her home town in Tasmania was engulfed in devastating bushfires which destroyed 93 homes and caused an estimated $100 million in damage. Seeing the widespread impact of the bushfire, Sophia knew urgent action on climate was needed and has been advocating for climate justice as a Save the Children Australia’s Youth Advisor.
Sophia said:
“From my personal experiences with the direct impacts of disasters, it was really about the people around me, the people who, all of us in that situation were in it together, knew that we had to work together.
“I think [climate] resilience looks like knowing that we're all in this together. This is a generational issue. This is a future issue. It is a now issue.”
Martina Bogado Duffner, Senior Climate Advocacy Advisor, Save the Children, said:
“This isn’t someone else’s problem. The climate crisis concerns all of us and the children and planet that we all share.
“The urgency of addressing climate change's devastating impacts on children has never been more apparent. An average of 136,000 children a day have been affected by climate disasters over the last 30 years – since the start of COP – and more children will have to live with the impact of climate change if we do not collectively work to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
“Even in the face of huge climate challenges we mustn't lose hope or motivation because there are solutions. Ambitious emission cuts and a transition to renewable energy and the urgent phase-out of fossil fuels is still possible. This is necessary to secure children’s rights and uphold countries’ obligations under international law to protect the planet.”
Save the Children is calling on decision makers, including those from high-income countries, corporations and multinationals to:
- Recognise children as a priority group in climate negotiations, policies, and finance.
- Guarantee the meaningful participation of children in climate decision-making.
- Phase out fossil fuels urgently and equitably, in line with the 1.5°C goal.
- Invest in climate-resilient services – including health, education, water, nutrition, and child protection.
- Increase research and address data gaps to reveal the true impacts of climate change on children around the world.
ENDS
MEDIA CONTACT: media.team@savethechildren.org.au