Children should be a top priority at COP29

Around one in eight children globally has been significantly affected by the 10 biggest extreme weather events so far this year. The organization for the rights of the child Save the Children warns about this, reports Euronews.

Hundreds of millions of children have been forced to leave their homes, relying on aid or missing school.

With climate change, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe, with children often bearing the brunt of these disasters.

400 million children are affected by school closures due to extreme weather events

New analysis by Save the Children showed that from January 1 to October 29, some 300 million children in Asia, Africa and Brazil – about 12,5 percent of the world's total child population of 2,4 billion – were affected by the worst extreme weather events.

A recent study by the World Bank found that an average of 400 million students have had their schools closed due to extreme weather since 2022.

Tropical Storm Trami, which hit the Philippines weeks ago, stopped school for 19,5 million children.

Flooding in West and Central Africa forced 10 million children out of school, while an unprecedented heat wave in South Asia forced 256 million children out of school.

Millions of children are in need of humanitarian aid

According to the UN, human-induced climate change has also worsened the El Niño-related drought that has scorched the ground and destroyed crops in South Africa for most of this year.

In this region, 70% of the population relies on agriculture to survive. The UN called it the worst drought in 100 years.

Children were also affected by other extreme weather events – floods, cyclones and monsoons in Bangladesh, the Horn of Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Brazil.

Typhoon Yagi, which hit Southeast Asia in September, left an estimated 1,5 million children in need of humanitarian aid.

There is an urgent need to place children at the centre

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 that the number of global extreme weather events has increased fivefold in the past 50 years.

Save the Children said the analysis showing the extent to which children are affected highlights the urgent need to put them at the center of talks at the COP29 climate change summit in Baku.

With the majority of affected children living in low- and middle-income countries, world leaders need more than ever to prioritize children living in poverty, inequality and discrimination.

At COP29 in Baku, Save the Children is calling for children's rights, demands and vulnerabilities to be included in the New Collective Quantitative Climate Finance Goal (NCQG), as well as in national and global adaptation plans.

The organization also calls for improving children's participation opportunities in the COP so that they can participate in decision-making that affects them.