One in Three Children Worldwide Faces Dual Burden of Climate Crisis and Poverty

Save the Children and Brussels Free University Researchers Survey 54,000 People in 41 Countries
Child Proportion Facing Double Hardships: South Sudan 87% > Central African Republic 85% > Mozambique 80%

Save the Children has released the "Generation of Hope" report, which reveals that one in three children worldwide is simultaneously exposed to the climate crisis and poverty. Graphic by Save the Children

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jung-wan] A survey revealed that approximately one in three children worldwide, or 774 million, are simultaneously exposed to the climate crisis and poverty.

On the 14th, the international child rights NGO Save the Children released a report titled "Generation of Hope: 2.4 Billion Reasons to End the Global Warming and Inequality Crisis," which contains these findings.

This report was a collaboration between Save the Children and researchers from the Free University of Brussels in Belgium. It incorporated the Climate Crisis Index analyzed and predicted based on climate research models, as well as survey data collected from over 54,000 children across 41 countries worldwide, including 1,000 children in Korea, from May to August this year.

According to the survey, 774 million children worldwide, equivalent to one-third of all children, are exposed to both the climate crisis and poverty. Nearly half of these, 349 million children, reside in the Asia region. The proportion of children facing this dual hardship is highest in South Sudan at 87%, followed by the Central African Republic at 85%, and Mozambique at 80%.

Adding conflict to poverty and the climate crisis, 183 million children suffer from triple hardships. Burundi (63%) and Afghanistan (55%) were notably cited as examples.

Furthermore, children living in impoverished environments lack the capacity to protect themselves or recover from crises, leading to greater vulnerability. The report forecasts that the current situation, where 345 million people in 82 countries suffer from severe food shortages due to global inflation increasing living costs, combined with the climate crisis, will exacerbate future crises.

The researchers emphasized, "When the climate crisis and inequality combine, the resilience of children and communities to respond to crises can be severely weakened. Without urgent measures, humanitarian crises may become more frequent and severe in the coming years, and the cost of living in crisis situations could rise sharply."

The report also noted that 121 million children in 63 relatively higher-income countries are not exempt from poverty and the climate crisis. Among children in developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, 28 million suffer from this dual hardship.

The researchers warned, "This trend is due to increasing disparities caused by inequality within countries. As the intensity of the climate crisis worsens, there is a growing risk of falling into deeper poverty crises." In Korea's case, while the level of poverty exposure was low, it was classified as a country where the climate crisis is relatively widespread.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.