COP29: CHILDREN CALL ON WORLD LEADERS TO ACT AS CLIMATE DISASTERS THREATEN THEIR HOMES, EDUCATION, AND LIVES

BAKU, 12 November 2024 – Children are calling on world leaders meeting at the COP29 Summit in Azerbaijan to include children’s needs in their response to the climate crisis, following new analysis by Save the Children showing one in eight of the world’s children have been directly impacted by the 10 biggest extreme weather events so far this year. 

 At a press conference hosted by Save the Children in Baku today, child campaigners from Somalia and Nigeria spoke about how the climate crisis is affecting their rights, lives and communities, and called on leaders at COP29 to take urgent action.  

One of the campaigners, Nafiso, 17, is from Somalia, a country which has experienced years of successive droughts, followed by some of the worst flooding in decades, which led to a surge in diseases and devastated agriculture.  

Nafiso described how these kinds of extreme weather events are getting more frequent and severe due to the climate crisis, with Somalia one of the most vulnerable countries in the world.  

Nafiso said: 

“My community has been repeatedly hit by drought and floods. Sometimes there is flooding that comes into my room and I can't sleep. My father is a farmer and the weather is too extreme, when it floods it washes away the crops and when it’s dry they don’t get enough water. During the drought, I don’t get to eat three times a day, sometimes I get one meal, sometimes two, because my family isn’t rich.  

“A lot of children are impacted by climate change, many have lost their homes - I’ve seen a lot of problems and a lot of sadness. I want to tell world leaders that many children are going hungry and are malnourished as a result of climate change.” 

Earlier this year, Save the Children warned that the number of children in crisis levels of hunger due to extreme weather events had doubled in five years. 

Another campaigner - Ibrahim, 14, from Nigeria – spoke of how his country was recently hit by the worst floods in 30 years, uprooting 400,000 people from their homes and putting millions of children out of school. Like many other children, Ibrahim was directly impacted by the floods, with his school closed for three weeks. 

Last week Save the Children warned that the number of children living with acute malnutrition across Nigeria is set to increase by a million next year, partly due to the devastation of farmland by the floods. 

Ibrahim said: 

“The weather is more extreme now than it used to be. Flooding has affected my community, as houses were destroyed and communities washed away. When climate disaster strikes children are always vulnerable - they need protection and they need to be a priority. Following the floods many children were left stranded for hours without food or shelter, or anywhere to call home. Their education has been brutally disrupted, some schools that were also used as shelters for people who lost their homes. My own school closed for three weeks” 

Children, with their unique physiological and developmental characteristics, are disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of climate change – with those affected by inequality and discrimination bearing the brunt, Save the Children said.  But they have done the least to contribute to this crisis, and their voices and experiences are often unheard.  

 Nafiso and Ibrahim both emphasised the need for meaningful opportunities for children to participate at COP29.  Ibrahim said: 

“Children's voices aren’t heard when it comes to decisions relating to climate change. I think it is very necessary for the voices of children to be incorporated in COP because anything done without us is not actually for children. The future belongs to children - we must be included in all climate change discussions”  

Nafiso added: 

“Only children can say what they're feeling and experiencing. I want to go to COP to raise the voices of Somali children. World leaders must do more than listen – they must take action.” 

Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International said:   

“The experiences of Nafiso and Ibrahim are not unusual. In fact, they’re now the norm for millions of children around the world. The climate crisis is a child rights crisis that is devastating children’s lives as we speak. 

“World leaders at COP need to truly listen to children’s perspectives and insights and address their unique needs. Without urgent action, children will face significant devastation in the future.” 

 Save the Children is calling for children’s rights, voices, and vulnerabilities to be factored into key financial decisions made at COP this year, such as the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG), as well as national and global adaptation plans. 

The child rights organisation is also calling for improved opportunities for children’s participation at COP, so that they can be involved in the decision-making that affects them.   

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