News Center — Climate threats are escalating around the world, exacerbating the risks faced by children, from declining food security to the disruption of essential services. Reports confirm that younger populations have become among the most affected by the repercussions of accelerating climate change.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) affirmed in a report released today, Tuesday, June 16, that nearly all of the world's children are exposed to at least one climate-related risk, with up to 1.8 billion facing the risk of drought and 1.2 billion facing the risk of extreme heat.

The organization emphasized that children are disproportionately affected by a range of escalating climate-related risks and that governments urgently need to invest in infrastructure, adaptive capacities, and disaster management to reduce their exposure to these risks.

The report addressed a wide range of climate risks, in addition to the impact of air pollution and the risks of insect-borne diseases such as malaria. It also examined data related to access to water, healthcare, and social services around the world.

It noted that up to 1.1 billion children globally have been exposed to at least three overlapping climate risks, warning of a dangerous series of interconnected risks that could overwhelm governments and social services.

UNICEF Director of Statistics Rohini SampurNam Swaminathan stated that the issue is not merely about children being exposed to individual hazards such as floods, droughts, or heatwaves, but rather about their exposure to multiple overlapping hazards.

The report detailed that nearly 662 million children were exposed to the risk of tropical storms, 337 million to the risk of river flooding, 33 million to the risk of coastal flooding, and one billion children to the risk of malaria—most of them in Africa. Additionally, the education of 242 million children in 85 countries was disrupted in 2024 due to climate hazards.

The report drew attention to the fact that Somalia, Madagascar, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Pakistan are the most vulnerable countries, with the largest numbers of children exposed to drought living in agricultural economies such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Tanzania.

Children in landlocked countries face significant and disproportionate risks, including drought, desertification, heat stress, and flash floods. Projections indicate that the water crisis is expected to worsen in countries such as Botswana and Burkina Faso in the coming years.