According to Unicef, climate change has displaced 43 million children

43.1 million. That’s how many children were displaced by climate disasters between 2016 and 2021, UNICEF warns in an uplifting new report.

“The tip of the iceberg” : make children visible

The UN agency’s report, published on Thursday 5 October, examines the trauma of children affected by the consequences of climate change. Stories of floods, storms or droughts… The report traces their experiences through the words of these children, exposed from an early age to the terrible consequences of climate change.

While statistics on internal displacement linked to climate disasters generally do not take age into account, UNICEF has worked with the NGO Internal Displacement Monitoring Center to disaggregate the data and ensure that children are no longer Invisible “.

The observation is clear: between 2016 and 2021, four types of climate disasters (floods, storms, droughts, fires) led to 43.1 million child displacements in 44 countries. According to the report, 95% are related to floods and storms. Note that the frequency and intensity of these disasters are increasing with global warming caused by human activities.

However, the report states, these figures are an underestimate “radically” drought-related shifts, which occur more slowly and are, in fact, more difficult to monitor. They also do not include migrations. “ This is just the tip of the iceberg, based on available data. The reality is that, with the impacts of climate change and better tracking of movements for slower weather events, the number of uprooted children will be much greater », insists Laura Healy, one of the authors of the report, to AFP.

These data formally count the number of child moves and not the number of children moved, since the same child can be moved multiple times. They do not allow us to distinguish between evacuations preceding and movements following the meteorological event.

20,000 child movements per day

“This equates to around 20,000 child movements per day”, continues Laura Healy. These movements, adds the expert, also expose minors to other risks, such as being separated from their family, or finding themselves in a child trafficking network.

The report identifies several areas particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. At the top of the list we find the Philippines, India and China, which are the most affected countries with almost 23 million displaced children between 2016 and 2021. The cause? Their population density, their geographical location and the implementation of preventive evacuation plans. In terms of the percentage of children displaced, Dominica has seen 76% of its children uprooted in 6 years, Cuba and Saint Martin more than 30%, Vanuatu 25%, the Philippines 23%.

The report presents very partial projections for some specific events. Floods alone linked to river overflows could displace 96 million children over the next 30 years, cyclonic winds 10.3 million and marine submersions linked to storms 7.2 million. Data that does not include preventive evacuations.

UNICEF calls on world leaders to address this pressing issue at the COP28 climate conference, which will be held in Dubai in a few weeks.