Children’s charity Unicef has issued a report in advance of the publication of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change summary of research, warning that the young will bear the full brunt of temperature increases.
In the paper, the organisation warns that climate change is one of the most pressing concerns facing children. “The legacy of climate change is no longer a distant projection, but will be felt by children born this year and beyond. A child born in 2013 will be 17 in 2030 and 37 in 2050, when the worst impacts of climate change will begin to be felt,” the charity says.
Those impacts include heatwaves, disease, malnutrition, and economic losses. Today, 700 million children live in the ten countries most vulnerable to climate change, and it’s estimated that 25 million more children will be malnourished as a result of climate change by 2050.
Also included in the report is the result of polling carried out by Unicef UK with Ipsos Mori, which shows that three quarters of British 11-16-year-olds would like the government to do more to tackle the issue.
Unicef UK’s executive director David Bull told Wired.co.uk in an email: “What children are grasping — unlike many of their adult counterparts — is that climate change is no longer a distant or abstract issue. Instead it is already impacting on children’s lives across the world and will dramatically affect the future of children growing up today as well as the next generation. Our own children will carry the burden of our delays and inaction, which is why the majority are calling for decisive action on this destructive issue now.”
Unicef has called on the British government to spearhead a legally-binding treaty to reduce emissions and contribute a share of the aid money required to help developing nations adapt to the effects of climate change and involve children in the development of climate policy.
Condé Nast UK 2013