Climate change is the biggest
global health threat to children in the 21st century. Without concerted
action, millions of children
will be at increased risk from disease, undernutrition, water scarcity,
disasters, and the collapse of public services and infrastructure. No one
will be immune to the effects of climate change, but one of the largest
groups to be affected will be children under the age of five.
The evidence is clear
and mounting, yet the link between climate change and child survival struggles
to command public and political attention. It is vital that governments
and the public understand what is at stake. Tackling the issues young children
face as a result of climate change must be made a priority.
Today, most child deaths
occur in the world's poorest countries and communities. Children are dying
from a small number of preventable and treatable diseases and conditions,
including diarrhoea, malaria and malnutrition. An estimated third of the
entire global childhood disease burden is attributable to changeable factors
in food, soil, water and air. These diseases and conditions are predicted
to worsen with climate change. For example, climate change will accelerate
the spread of malaria in various parts of the world. By making access to
clean water even more difficult, it will be harder to tackle diarrhoea,
one of the biggest killers of young children. Dirty water and unsafe sanitation
is a major secondary cause of child mortality. Climate change will increase
the number of disasters like floods, droughts and cyclones that put children's
lives at risk. And it will have very severe consequences for food security
and nutrition. One-third of deaths of children under five are linked to
undernutrition. Climate change will make it much harder for poor families
to give their children a nutritious diet.
Because the effects of
climate change on children are so significant, national governments and
the international community must work together to chart a way forward.
First, the effects of climate change on children need to be documented
and recognised. This information will be vital in identifying appropriate
interventions to support children to adapt to climate change. Second, interventions
to adapt to the effects of climate change must focus on children's needs.
Measures to strengthen health and social systems, to improve food security
and reduce malnutrition through social protection, and to promote child-centred
disaster risk reduction will become increasingly vital in a future altered
by climate change. Finally, as it is still possible to avoid the worst
predictions of climate change, governments must commit to a bold and binding
international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.