20,000 children lose their homes every day due to climate problems

According to the UN report, currently natural disasters and extreme weather conditions force about 20 thousand children to flee and lose their homes every day. 

From 2016 to 2021, 43.1 million children were displaced in 44 countries due to weather events caused by climate change, which corresponds to about 20 thousand children displaced daily, the UN reports. According to a report published on Friday, October 6, by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), four types of natural disasters, in particular, led to the displacement of children during this period: floods, hurricanes, droughts and forest fires.

The report "Children displaced in a changing climate" for the first time in the world identified the number of young people displaced within their country as a result of natural disasters. "These figures are just the tip of the iceberg, as many more children are likely to have been affected," explained Laura Healy, co-author of the UNICEF report.

According to Healy, the number of children displaced as a result of the drought is "radically underestimated" because such movements are "less sudden and therefore more difficult to record." Floods and hurricanes accounted for 95% (40.9 million) of cases, the report says. More than 1.3 million children were forced to leave their homes within their countries due to drought, and about 810 thousand children were deprived of their homes due to forest fires, mainly in Canada, Israel and the USA. In absolute numbers, most children were displaced within their own country in China and the Philippines, and relative to the total population, children in small island States such as Dominica and Vanuatu, as well as in Somalia and South Sudan, suffered the most.

Climate change: forecasts for the future are disappointing
According to forecasts given in the UNICEF report, floods and river flooding could lead to the displacement of 96 million children over the next 30 years, and hurricanes - 10.3 million. Various types of storms can cause a "climatic" flight of 7.2 million children, the report says. The largest number of displaced children is predicted in China, India and the Philippines.

Forced flights are always a "very difficult ordeal" for children, the UNICEF Executive Director stressed Catherine Russell. "Just as the effects of climate change are intensifying, so will the associated flights." It is necessary to strengthen the protection of children in their homes and increase support for those who were forced to flee.