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.”
World
‘Better late than never’: Palestinian minister says UK recognition of state would be ‘courageous step’
Britain will be taking “a courageous step at a very difficult time” by officially recognising a Palestinian state, according to the authority’s foreign minister, who told Sky News she believes the announcement – expected in the coming days – will inspire more nations to follow suit.
The Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister, Varsen Aghabekian, told me Britain’s move was “better late than never”, and said “Britain, with its weight, can influence other countries to come forward and recognise, because that is the right thing to do”.
But she also said she is “very angry” with the White House over its “unwavering support” for Israel, and said that Israel’s refusal to pass on tax revenue was pushing Palestinian civil society to the brink of “collapse”.
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Aghabekian was speaking as Britain, along with France, Canada and Australia, prepares to recognise the State of Palestine officially at the United Nations.
She told me: “Britain has been supporting the existence and the flourishing of Israel for some time, but I think today Britain is looking at the matter objectively, in terms of the right of people, in terms of complying with international law, and in terms of the future of this area for both the Israelis and Palestinians.”
She rejected the idea that recognising Palestine was a reward for Hamas terrorism, saying that “non-recognition” would also be a “reward to the extremists” and said that “if we wait until Israel decides it wants to go into negotiations with the Palestinians, then it won’t happen”.
Aghabekian told me she expected Gaza to be returned to the Palestinians, but I put it to her that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was being empowered by the diplomatic support he receives from America, and in particular, US President Donald Trump.
So is she angry with the White House? “Very angry, because I expect the White House and the United States of America to align with international law, with human rights, with having no double standards.
“This unwavering support for Israel, this blind support, is not only harming the Palestinians but also Israeli society.”
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The state of Palestine is already recognised by three-quarters of the United Nations’ members. It comprises two separate territories – the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Together, they are officially known as the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The West Bank has been subject to Israeli military occupation since 1967, while Gaza has been attacked by Israel since the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, when nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed and around 250 people were taken hostage.
Since then, more than 65,000 people have been killed in Gaza as Israel has sought to destroy Hamas and recover its hostages. There are 48 hostages still in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.
She confirmed to me that Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, “has given guarantees in letters to various leaders around the globe that said Hamas will not be part of the governance of the Gaza Strip” and insisted there was “probably a worldwide consensus” on the topic.
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But she also insisted it was “not reasonable” to talk of completely erasing Hamas: “Hamas is an ideology, not a building that you bring down. Hamas is in people’s minds; in their heads.
“Those who support Hamas need to see a future, need to see something that is moving on the political level, need to see that there might be a state in which their children and their grandchildren might prosper.
“What people see today, whether they are Hamas supporters or not, they see darkness and they see destruction all over. They see violation of rights. They are helpless and hopeless. People need to see things are moving forward, and once that happens, there will be a shift in the mood, and they will look for a better future.”
But just as the Palestinians prepare to welcome recognition, Aghabekian said the West Bank was facing financial collapse as Israel continues to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue that, under a 30-year-old agreement, it collects on the Palestinian Authority’s behalf.
Israel has retained a proportion of the money since the start of the war in Gaza, but, encouraged by finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, it has recently withheld a much higher amount.
“People have not been paid, civil servants are only receiving small parts of their salaries. We can’t buy medical supplies, equipment, you name it,” said Aghabekian.
“How can a government run a country under such conditions? So yes, we are very worried.”
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