Unicef has called on all Member State Parties to the Paris Agreement to submit new national climate plans – Nationally Defined Contributions (NDC 3.0) to set the course of climate action for a decade.
According to the UN body, the plan will serve as a timebound opportunity to set out concrete plans to realise the goals of the Paris agreement.
“UNICEF is calling on leaders, governments and the private sector to seize this opportunity to deliver urgent and bold climate action which upholds the right of every child to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment by taking the following actions,” it said in a statement.
This, Unicef added, will reduce emissions and fulfil ambitious international sustainability and climate change agreements with urgency to get rising temperatures under control, protect the lives, health and well-being of children and the resilience of their communities, including by adapting essential social services to a changing climate, more frequent disasters, and degrading environment.
“For example, by making sure every health worker is trained to detect and treat heat stress, and by making health and education facilities resilient to extreme heat, empower every child through their life course with the developmental opportunities, education, and skills to be a champion for the environment,” it added.
According to a Unicef analysis, one in 5 children – or 466 million – live in areas that experience at least double the number of extremely hot days every year compared to just six decades ago.
Using a comparison between a 1960s and a 2020-2024 average, the analysis issues a stark warning about the speed and scale at which extremely hot days – measured as more than 35 degrees Celsius / 95 degrees Fahrenheit – are increasing for almost half a billion children worldwide, many without the infrastructure or services to endure it.
“The hottest summer days now seem normal,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Extreme heat is increasing, disrupting children’s health, well-being and daily routines.”
The analysis also examines country-level data and finds that in 16 countries, children now experience more than a month of additional extremely hot days compared to six decades ago. In South Sudan, for example, children are living through a yearly average of 165 extremely hot days this decade compared to 110 days in the 1960s, while in Paraguay it has jumped to 71 days from 36.
Globally, children in West and Central Africa face the highest exposure to extremely hot days and the most significant increases over time, according to the analysis. 123 million children – or 39 per cent of children in the region – now experience an average of more than one third of the year – or at least 95 days – in temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius, reaching as many as 212 days in Mali, 202 days in Niger, 198 days in Senegal, and 195 days in Sudan. In Latin America and the Caribbean, almost 48 million children live in areas
that are experiencing twice the number of extremely hot days.
