Unless we act now. The impact of climate change on children

Description

This report aims to build the evidence base on children and climate change by focusing on the major climate-related risks; children’s current and future exposure to these risks; and the policies required to protect children from these risks. The report has three sections.
The first section explores the major climate-related risks and their potential impacts on children – how climate change might influence the burden of disease for children – and examines the cumulative impact of repetitive crises on children and families.
The second section examines how children may be affected under various scenarios of action - from business-as-usual to ambitious action in addressing climate change.
The final section outlines a series of broad policy recommendations to prevent further global warming, decrease children’s exposure and increase their resilience to climate change and environmental risks.
Building on UNICEF’s child demographic projection series, Generation 2030, the authors aimed to estimate how many children live in climate-affected areas, and how many will live in future climate-affected areas. Severe weather, such as droughts and floods, varies considerably within countries, requiring more detailed information about where children live within countries and how they are impacted.
Using Geographic Information System (GIS) population density data from best available administrative boundaries and supplied by CIESIN, and applying the proportion of children to total population at the most localized available level (in some cases this was national data from the United Nations population division, and in others this was subnational from ICF International / USAID DHS Program), the authors were able to create a child population map that estimates the number of children in every square kilometre on earth.
With this map as a foundation, the authors then overlaid GIS maps that estimate flood and drought zones provided by WRI, and several other climate related impacts to estimate the number of children who live in those zones.

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