In accordance with the UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) report titled ‘The Climate Crisis Is a Child Rights Crisis: Introducing the Children’s Climate Risk Index’ (CCRI), India is among the 33 extremely high-risk countries where approximately 1 billion children(half the world’s 2.2 billion children population) are most at risk of the impacts of climate change that will affect their health, education, and protection.
- This is a first kind of Climate Risk Index to be introduced for children all over the world.
- Th 33 extremely high-risk countries collectively emitting just 9 per cent of global CO2 emissions.But the top 10 highest countries collectively account for 70 per cent of global emissions.
Countries at High Risk
Children’s Climate Risk Index ranks countries based on how vulnerable children are to environmental stresses and extreme weather events.
i.Children in the Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria, Guinea, and GuineaBissau countries are at high risk.
ii.The four South Asian countries named in the list are Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and India with ranks of 14th, 15th, 25th and 26th.
iii.India’s neighbours Nepal is ranked 51st, Sri Lanka 61st, and Bhutan is ranked 111th.
Countries at Low Risk :-
Children in Iceland, Luxembourg and New Zealand are at very low risk as per the index.
Two Pillars of the Report:-
The CCRI Report is composed of two pillars which further have many indicators for monitoring and evaluation of child climate vulnerability and exposure to specific hazards (risk).
i.Pillar 1 – Exposure to climate and environmental shocks and stresses and its Indicators/components are
- Water scarcity, Riverine floods, Coastal floods, Tropical cyclones, Vector borne diseases, Heatwaves, Air pollution,and Soil and water pollution.
ii.Pillar 2 – Child vulnerability and its Indicators/components are
- Child health and nutrition, Education, Water, sanitation, and hygiene, Poverty, communication assets,and social protection.
CCRI Rank Detail
| CCRI Rank | COUNTRY | CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS | CHILD VULNERABILITY | CHILDREN’S CLIMATE RISK INDEX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central African Republic (High at Risk) | 6.7 | 9.8 | 8.7 |
| 26 | India | 9.0 | 4.6 | 7.4 |
| 163 | Iceland (Low at Risk) | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.0 |
Other Key points
i.It report was launched in collaboration with Fridays for Future on the third anniversary of the youth-led global climate strike movement i.e. on August 19, 2021.
ii.As per the report, more than 600 million Indians will face ‘acute water shortages’, simultaneously, floods will also increase in India’s urban areas once the global temperature increase rises above 2° Celsius.
iii.Notably, 21 of the world’s 30 cities with the most polluted air in 2020 were in India.
Recent Related News:
In accordance with the official data published by WHO (World Health Organization) and UNICEF namely ‘WHO/UNICEF estimates of national immunization coverage (WUENIC)’ on comprehensive worldwide childhood immunization figures’ 23 million children missed out on basic vaccines through routine immunization services in 2020.
About UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund):
Executive Director– Henrietta H. Holsman Fore
Headquarters– New York, USA
India Representative– Dr Yasmin Ali Haque
