Up to 20,000 children displaced every day by storms, floods and wildfires, UNICEF says
Storms, floods and wildfires led to more than 43 million displacements of children between 2016 and 2021, UNICEF has said.
The UN agency also warned that 100 million more children could be displaced by extreme weather over the next 30 years.
Weather-related disasters, which are becoming more violent and frequent as greenhouse gases cause the Earth’s atmosphere to heat up, uprooted up to 20,000 children a day in 44 countries over the six-year period, with 95% of those from floods, according to the research.
UNICEF said it had measured the number of child displacements rather than the number of children, as the same person could be displaced more than once.
The true number was also likely to be higher as many cases went undocumented.
China and the Philippines were among the countries most affected because of large child populations that were exposed to extreme weather and because early-warning and evacuation measures had improved recently, meaning better reporting.
Relative to the child population size, those on small island states such as Dominica in the Caribbean and Vanuatu in Oceania were the most affected by storms, while children in Somalia and South Sudan in Africa were most affected by floods.
Children ride on a makeshift raft after flooding on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao
Flooding accounted for 40.9 million (95%) of child displacements during the period analysed, in part because of effective reporting and evacuation, while droughts caused 1.3 million internal displacements and wildfires triggered 810,000, with more than a third of those in 2020 alone.
Canada, Israel and the US recorded the most wildfire displacements, while Somalia recorded the most from drought.
UNICEF’s executive director Catherine Russell said: “It is terrifying for any child when a ferocious wildfire, storm or flood barrels into their community.
“For those who are forced to flee, the fear and impact can be especially devastating, with worry of whether they will return home, resume school, or be forced to move again.”
In a report called Children Displaced In A Changing Climate, UNICEF said that decisions to move may be abrupt, in the face of immediate danger, or the result of an evacuation where lives are saved but at the cost of having to face other dangers.
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Children play at a makeshift evacuation after flash floods in Quezon City in the Philippines
Many children at risk of climate displacement were in countries that were already struggling with conflict and poverty and local authorities were often unable to offer enough resources in support.
Using a risk model developed by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, UNICEF said that flooding from rivers had the potential to displace 96 million children over the next 30 years.
Based on other climate data, they said cyclones and storm surges could displace 10.3 million and 7.2 million children respectively over the same period, although the real number would be likely to be much higher as climate change brought more extreme weather more frequently.
“Moving may have saved their lives, but it’s also very disruptive. As the impacts of climate change escalate, so too will climate-driven movement,” Ms Russell said.
Internally displaced children in Dollow, Somalia
Katherine Nightingale, WaterAid’s global director of international affairs, said: “We have the tools and knowledge to respond to this escalating challenge for children, but we are acting far too slowly.
“We need to strengthen efforts to prepare communities, protect children at risk of displacement, and support those already uprooted.
“The climate crisis is a water crisis, with a staggering 90% of all natural disasters water-related and while all of us are feeling the effects, it’s the world’s most vulnerable who suffer the most.
“From flood defences to drought resistance, the solutions exist. But more investment is needed urgently to develop robust and reliable water, sanitation and hygiene systems which serve as a lifeline for communities who must defend themselves against climate uncertainty on a daily basis.”
A woman brought in for cremation at a Thai temple was found alive in her coffin.
The 65-year-old had been taken to Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok, after she appeared to stop breathing two days earlier.
Her family had travelled hundreds of miles with her body in the coffin and were preparing for her to be cremated.
However, moments before the service began a shocked temple manager, Pairat Soodthoop, said he heard a faint knock coming from inside the coffin.
Ambulance workers lift the woman in her coffin. Pic: AP
“I was a bit surprised, so I asked them to open the coffin, and everyone was startled,” he said.
“I saw her opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for quite some time.”
The cremation was due to be live-streamed by the temple.
Thairath, the nation’s best-selling newspaper, named the woman in question as Chonthirat Sakulkoo, and said she was brought in by her brother, Mongkol Sakulkoo.
The brother said she had been bedridden for about two years before her health deteriorated further and she became unresponsive, appearing to have stopped breathing, according to Mr Soodthoop
The woman in her coffin. Pic: AP
So, the brother placed her in a coffin and drove her 300 miles (500km) from their home in Phitsanulok province, in the north of the country, to the capital, Bangkok.
The Bangkok Post reported that the woman’s brother had been told by local officials that his sister had died.
The woman had wished to donate her organs to a hospital in the Thai capital, but her brother was turned away as he did not have the relevant paperwork.
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Instead, he went to the temple, which offers a free cremation service.
After the woman was discovered alive she was assessed and sent to Bang Yai Hospital, Thairath reported, where she was treated for hypoglycemia, before being released back to her brother.
The woman in her coffin. Pic: AP
Asked how he felt to learn that his sister is still alive, Mr Sakulkoo said he was indifferent, according to the newspaper.
Mr Soodthoop, said the temple would cover her medical expenses.
Flights have been cancelled over ash clouds from Hayli Gubbi, a long-dormant volcano in Ethiopia, erupted for the first time in recorded history.
Plumes from the volcano pushed across the Red Sea through Oman and Yemen into India on Monday evening, leading airlines Air India and Akasa Air to cancel some flights.
Air India cancelled 11 flights, and Akasa scrapped flights to destinations such as Jeddah, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi, while carrier IndiGo said on social media that it was monitoring the situation “in coordination with international aviation bodies”.
The India Meteorological Department said that ash clouds from Hayli Gubbi, northern Ethiopia, are moving towards China, and are expected to clear Indian skies by 7.30pm (2pm in the UK).
It comes after the Ethiopian volcano erupted for the first time in recorded history on Sunday morning, leaving the neighbouring village of Afdera covered in dust.
No eruptions were ever recorded at Hayli Gubbi until Sunday. Pic: Afar Government/AP
Pic: Afar Government/AP
The eruption sent ash plumes up to 8.7 miles (14km) high, according to the Reuters news agency.
Mohammed Seid, a local administrator, told the Associated Press at the time that there were no casualties but that it could cause issues for livestock herders.
“While no human lives and livestock have been lost so far, many villages have been covered in ash and as a result their animals have little to eat,” he added.
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Ahmed Abdela, a local resident, also told the news agency that “it felt like a sudden bomb had been thrown with smoke and ash”.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are set to hold talks over the Ukraine peace plan.
US and Ukrainian officials have held discussions in Geneva about a controversial 28-point proposal drawn up by America and Russia, which has since been countered by an amended deal drawn up by Kyiv’s European allies.
The White House said there were still a “couple of points of disagreement” as of Monday night, but spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said there was a “sense of urgency” to strike an agreement.
“The president wants to see this deal come together, and to see this war end,” she added.
Mr Zelenskyy echoed that message, saying “there is still work for all of us to do to finalise the document”.
“We must do everything with dignity,” he said in his nightly video address, adding: “The sensitive issues, the most delicate points, I will discuss with President Trump.”
Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters at the White House. Pic: AP
It comes after Mr Trump, who had accused Ukraine of not being grateful enough for US military support while the Geneva talks were under way, suggested the process could be moving in the right direction.
He had earlier given Kyiv until Thursday to agree to the plan, but US Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed the deadline, saying officials could keep negotiating.
Moscow, however, has already signalled its opposition to the European version of the peace plan.
It would halt fighting at present front lines, leaving discussions of territory for later, and also include a NATO-style US security guarantee for Ukraine.
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Russian drones devastate Kharkiv
The talks in Geneva, Switzerland, had begun with Mr Rubio denying the original plan was written by Russia.
It appeared to include a number of longstanding Kremlin demands that have proved impossible for Kyiv, including sacrificing territory Russian forces have not even seized since the war began.
Ms Leavitt has also insisted the US is not favouring the Russians.
Ukrainian troops fire near the frontline town of Pokrovsk. Pic: Reuters
Starmer to lead talks of Ukraine’s allies
Ukraine’s allies in the so-called “coalition of the willing” will hold a virtual meeting today, chaired by Sir Keir Starmer.
The British prime minister said the alliance was focused on achieving a “just and lasting peace”.
It “matters for all of us, because the conflict in Ukraine has had a direct impact here in the UK”, he added.
Russia and Ukraine report overnight attacks
The talks will begin hours after the governor of Russia’s Rostov region reported three people had been killed and 10 more injured in a Ukrainian attack overnight.
The Russian defence ministry said 249 Ukrainian drones were downed over Russian regions in total.
Meanwhile, Russian drone strikes in Kyiv left at least two dead and triggered fires on residential buildings – forcing evacuations, and leaving several people injured.
Drone strikes rocked Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday. Pic: Ukrainian emergency services/Telegram
The war was also a topic of discussion in a call between Mr Trump and China’s Xi Jinping on Monday.
Mr Xi urged “all parties” in the conflict to “reduce differences”, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
He reiterated that China supported all efforts conducive to peace.
China has remained a consistent ally of Russia throughout its invasion of Ukraine, and is the top buyer of Russian oil, along with India.
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