UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Report 2026 reveals that 1.1 billion children face at least three overlapping climate hazards, putting their health education and survival at risk.
Climate Crisis Putting Billions of Children at Risk
Almost every child on Earth is now exposed to at least one major climate hazard, according to UNICEF Children Climate Risk Report 2026. The report warns that climate change is creating growing threats to children’s health, education and overall well being.
Using data from UNICEF Global Child Hazard Database, researchers found that nearly half of the world’s children about 1.1 billion face at least three overlapping climate hazards. More than 4 million children are exposed to as many as six different climate-related threats.
The report highlights a range of hazards affecting children worldwide, including coastal flooding, river flooding, drought, extreme heat, heatwaves, wildfires, tropical storms and sand and dust storms. It also examines climate-sensitive risks such as air pollution and diseases like malaria.
Children are particularly vulnerable to climate impacts because their bodies and minds are still developing. Climate-related disasters can affect their physical health, mental well-being, education and access to essential services.
According to UNICEF climate hazards rarely occur in isolation. Instead children often face multiple interconnected threats. For example, severe drought can destroy crops and worsen food insecurity. Dry conditions can then fuel wildfires, while damaged landscapes become more vulnerable to floods when heavy rains return.
These cascading disasters can destroy homes, schools and healthcare facilities. They can also force families to leave their communities, increasing the risk of displacement and disrupting children’s education and social support systems.
The report stresses that climate impacts are not distributed equally across the world. Some regions face higher exposure to climate hazards while also lacking the resilient social services needed to protect children during emergencies.
UNICEF says understanding where vulnerable children live and how they are affected is essential for developing effective climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies.
To address the growing crisis, UNICEF is calling for stronger global action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels. The agency is also urging governments to strengthen climate adaptation plans by prioritising child-focused services such as resilient schools, healthcare facilities, food systems, water supplies and social protection programmes.
The report further emphasizes the importance of involving children and young people in climate action through education, skills development and participation in decision making processes.