Children in sub-Saharan Africa are among the most at risk of facing the impacts of extreme climate crises. However, they are significantly neglected by the key climate financing flows required to help them deal with the climate crisis.

Climate hazards will disproportionately affect children in Africa with limited access to climate-resilient shelters, cooling infrastructure, healthcare, clean water, and education. The existing digital divide will also restrict African children's access to essential digital skills, hindering future opportunities in education and employment, reports have found.

A study titled "The State of the World's Children 2024: The Future of Childhood in a Changing World", released by UNICEF on Tuesday, predicts that the 2050s will see children in sub-Saharan Africa increasingly exposed to extreme weather, including extreme heat waves and river floods, with the ongoing climate crisis posing immediate threats.

With children in 48 out of 49 African countries assessed in the study categorized as at high or extremely high risk of the impacts of climate change, UNICEF said less than 3 percent of global funding to tackle climate change was directed at children, and called for more to be done.

"The projections in this report demonstrate that the decisions world leaders make, or fail to make today will define the world children will inherit. Creating a better future in 2050 requires more than just imagination, it requires action. Decades of progress, particularly for girls, are under threat," said Catherine Russell, UNICEF executive director.

Extreme heat impact

During a High-level Roundtable on Children, Youth, and Climate Action on Monday at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, UNICEF said that more than 40 million children in Africa and parts of Asia were kept out of classrooms this year due to extreme heat.

The United Nations agency called for this year's COP29 to move beyond dialogue to deliver tangible commitments for children, pointing out that today, less than half of the nationally determined contributions contain any child-specific content, while the impact of climate change on young populations is disproportionate.

While marking the World Children's Day in Zimbabwe on Wednesday, children from seven southern African nations released a joint call for action demanding an overhaul of the education system that is impactful and useful to youth in the current modern and evolving world.

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