Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

When Environmentalists preach Sustainability for all, shall it be for every human on the planet?

For those humans who have no rights, the ones stuck in conflicts and barely surviving on their own needs?

For Human history has been surrounded by wars and conflicts in plenty. But we have not yet learnt its lessons.

Any human conflict is likely to destroy the livelihoods, land, food etc., any resource falling in its vicinity. Afghan crisis is coming to fore with these lives being in grave danger.

Children being abandoned, without parents, caretakers, food and hopes will lose the only opportunity to lead better lives forever as most of the Afghan population constitutes the youngsters, a population after 9/11 that knows no mercy, compassion, socio-economic bliss but only violence and its power.

The most vulnerable ones being children, women and ethnic minorities, including the ones whose existence is largely discredited by societies like LGBTQs.

Coupled with these threats, there is the mother of all threats that is actively erasing chances of our survival with increasing time: Climate change.

The Climate Crisis Is a Child Rights Crisis: Introducing the Children’s Climate Risk Index proves to be the first comprehensive analysis by UNICEF grading the climate risk for children across the world.

It successfully ranks the world countries based on its children’s exposure to environmental risks and their vulnerability that depends on their access to essential services like water and sanitation, healthcare and education.

The report clarifies how a billion children approximately half of the world’s 2.2 billion children in total, surviving in 33 difficult countries are at “extremely high-risk”.

Its ironic that these countries, being the center stage of climate change, collectively emit just 9 per cent of global CO2 emissions.

According to UNICEF Executive Director: “Climate change is deeply inequitable. While no child is responsible for rising global temperatures, they will pay the highest costs. The children from countries least responsible will suffer most of all.”

“Climate and environmental shocks are undermining the complete spectrum of children’s rights, from access to clean air, food and safe water; to education, housing, freedom from exploitation, and even their right to survive. Virtually no child’s life will be unaffected.”

World’s poorest and most vulnerable countries face multiple, simultaneous and overlapping threats now, be it environmental or socio-economic.

And therefore, an estimated 850 million children (1 out of 3) live in areas with at least four shocks hitting the children together and at least 330 million children (1 in every 7) live in areas affected by at least five major threats.

The major revelations made by the UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI) are:

570 children in total have the possibility to face the wrath of flooding (riverine as well as coastal) while 920 million face water scarcity.

400 million children remain exposed to cyclones and 820 million are exposed to heatwaves.

The worst of all threats, air pollution limits the lives of approximately 1 billion children as they remain highly exposed to exceedingly high levels of emissions.

India has been one of those 33 extremely high-risk countries with effects of flooding and air pollution being consistent which can subsequently lead to socio-economic adverse deliberations for women and children.

CCRI has placed Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and India at extremely high-risk countries for children under the influence of the climate change, holding a rank of 14th, 15th, 25th and 26th respectively.

It is to note that twenty-one of the world’s 30 cities in 2020 which battled with the most polluted air, are in India.

“But there is still time to act. Improving children’s access to essential services, such as water and sanitation, health, and education, can significantly increase their ability to survive these climate hazards”, suggests the experts.

“UNICEF urges governments and businesses to listen to children and prioritize actions that protect them from impacts, while accelerating work to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

“Movements of young climate activists will continue to rise, continue to grow and continue to fight for what is right because we have no other choice.”

Mapping the children’s vulnerability to a place and its reasons, can help build the resilience required to overcome these.

“Together, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic have created an alarming crisis for South Asian children.”

“The time to act is now – if we invest in water, healthcare and education, we can protect their futures from the impacts of a changing climate and degrading environment.”

“We must acknowledge where we stand, treat climate change like the crisis it is, and act with the urgency required to ensure today’s children inherit a livable planet.

By Alaina Ali Beg

I am a lover of all arts and therefore can dream myself in all places where the World takes me. I am an avid animal lover and firmly believes that Nature is the true sorcerer.

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