Skip to main content

Children’s climate risk: High vulnerability to extreme heat, flooding, and air pollution

By Vikas Meshram 
Our irresponsible behavior towards the Earth raises a critical question: What kind of world are we leaving for the next generation? Issues like air pollution, severe water crises, depleting natural resources, and employment disparities make it clear that future generations will face an undeniably challenging life. This irresponsibility and lack of visionary leadership have compounded the risks posed by the climate crisis to children's futures, making it a matter of grave concern.
Recognizing these threats, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has emphasized the urgent need for strategic planning to address the challenges highlighted in its report, "The Future of Children in a Changing World." This report sheds light on the challenges, grim realities, and ominous futures facing children in India. According to the report, by 2050, over 350 million children in India will grapple with the impacts of climate crises, artificial intelligence, and technological transformations.
Children born during this period will encounter climate-related adversities, including heatwaves, floods, cyclones, and a range of climate-induced illnesses. Air pollution, acute water scarcity, dwindling resources, climate change, and employment disparities will make their lives even more strenuous, perilous, and demanding.
In 2021, India ranked 26th out of 163 countries on the Children’s Climate Risk Index, indicating a high vulnerability to extreme heat, flooding, and air pollution. The risks are particularly pronounced for children from rural and low-income communities. Projections show that by 2050, children could face eight times more heatwaves than in 2000.
The adverse effects of climate crises on children’s health, education, access to essential resources like water, and healthcare services are inevitable. This calls for the immediate formulation of a sensitive, forward-looking, and effective action plan.
Recent data reveal stark inequalities in internet connectivity. While 95% of the population in high-income countries is connected to the internet, only 26% of the population in low-income countries has access. In India, despite the widespread penetration of the internet, children face numerous challenges. UNICEF advocates for comprehensive technological initiatives to bridge the digital divide and ensure equitable and safe access to new technologies for all children.
Children are our future, and placing their welfare and rights at the center of policy-making is essential for building a prosperous, sustainable, and balanced society. Our irresponsible actions towards the planet are jeopardizing future generations.
By 2050, children will face eight times more heatwaves, three times more floods, and double the risk of wildfires compared to today. Such alarming predictions underscore UNICEF's call for urgent strategies to tackle these challenges and safeguard children's futures.
Urbanization poses additional challenges. By 2050, half of India’s population is expected to reside in urban areas. With rapid migration from rural to urban regions, overburdened urban services risk collapse. In this scenario, climate-resilient and child-friendly urban planning becomes a necessity.
Cities offer hope and opportunities for a better life, accounting for over 80% of global GDP and serving as engines of growth, innovation, and connectivity. They can provide the best possible environment for children to live, learn, and grow. However, approximately one-third of the 4 billion urban residents today are children, and by 2050, 70% of children globally are projected to live in urban areas, many in slums.
Urban areas can potentially provide better access to basic services like schools and hospitals. However, overcrowding, inadequate sanitation, unsafe housing, and limited transportation infrastructure remain significant obstacles, especially for poor urban children. These issues exacerbate the impact of climate change, making child-friendly urban planning imperative.
Globally, a billion children currently face high-risk climate hazards. Without immediate governmental action, the future will only worsen by 2050. Governments must act decisively to ensure a brighter, safer, and more inclusive future for the innocent faces and sparkling eyes that represent our nation’s responsibility.
Reducing the digital divide and ensuring inclusive access to modern technologies are critical steps toward establishing an equitable society. Efforts must be made to make technology accessible and secure for all children, providing them with equal opportunities to thrive.
Children are undeniably the architects of a nation’s future. Thus, every welfare-oriented government has a moral obligation to prioritize children’s welfare and rights in its policies. Only then can we hope for a bright and promising future for them.
---
The author is a senior journalist

Comments

TRENDING

Workers' groups condemn Gujarat Ordinance increasing working hours, warn of statewide agitation

By A Representative   At a consultation organised today by the Asangathit Shramik Hit Rakshak Manch at Circuit House in Ahmedabad, leaders of major trade unions and labour rights organisations strongly opposed the Gujarat government’s recent ordinance amending the Factories Act and the draft rules notified under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code, 2020. Around 50 representatives from central trade unions, independent unions, and labour welfare organisations participated in the meeting.

The myth of population decline: India’s real challenge is density, not fertility

By N.S. Venkataraman*   India’s population in 2025 stands at approximately 1.4 billion. In 1950, it was 359 million, rising sharply to 1.05 billion by 2000. The population continues to grow and is projected to reach around 1.7 billion by 2050.

How natural and organic farming can be a key to combating the climate crisis

By Raj Kumar Sinha*  On July 9, while addressing the “Sahkar Samvad” in Ahmedabad with women and workers associated with cooperatives from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, Union Home Minister Amit Shah emphasized that natural farming is essential for both our health and the health of the soil. This is a significant statement in the context of addressing the climate change crisis. Natural farming can play a crucial role in combating climate change. Also known as organic farming, it is a system of agriculture that can increase food production without harming the environment. Natural farming has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 35% to 50%.

Another 'honor' killing in Tamil Nadu: Caste pride has murdered love, again

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Once again, Tamil Nadu has witnessed a brutal so-called 'honor' killing. This time, it is Kevin Selvaganesh, a 27-year-old software engineer from the Scheduled Caste community, who has been hacked to death by the family of the girl he loved since childhood. Kevin, a brilliant student employed at Tata Consultancy Services, was in a relationship with Subashini, his schoolmate and girlfriend. The couple, both well-educated and professionally qualified, had plans to marry. Yet, that love story ended in bloodshed — sacrificed at the altar of caste pride.

From Kailasa to Lodonia: The business of inventing nations in India

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  This is the story of India—and the 'ideas' and 'imagination' that shape it. Some years ago, someone announced the creation of the 'United States of Kailasa,' a fictional nation 'founded' by Swami Nithyananda, who remains wanted in multiple criminal cases in India, including rape and murder. Remarkably, representatives of this fabricated country even managed to 'participate' in various United Nations events, including sessions of CEDAW in Geneva.

The GMO illusion: Three decades of hype, harm, and false hope

By Sridhar Radhakrishnan  Three decades of hype, billions of dollars spent, and still no miracle crop. It's time to abandon the GMO biotech fairy tale and return to the soil, the seed, and the farmer. “Trust us,” they said. “GMOs will feed the world.” Picture a world where there is plenty of food, no hunger, fields grow without chemical pesticides, children are saved from malnutrition, and people live healthily.

'Bengali Muslim migrant workers face crackdown in Gurgaon': Academic raises alarm

By A Representative   Political analyst and retired Delhi University professor Shamsul Islam has raised serious concerns over the ongoing targeting and detention of Muslim migrant workers from West Bengal in Gurgaon, Haryana. In a public statement, Islam described the situation as "brutal repression" and accused law enforcement agencies of detaining migrants arbitrarily under the pretext of verifying their citizenship.

Deaths in Chhattisgarh are not just numbers – they mark a deeper democratic crisis

By Sunil Kumar  For a while, I had withdrawn into a quieter life, seeking solace in nature. But the rising tide of state-sponsored violence and recurring conflict across India has compelled deeper reflection. The recent incidents of killings in central India—particularly in Chhattisgarh—are not isolated acts. They point to a larger and ongoing crisis that concerns the health of democracy and the treatment of marginalised communities.

100 yrs of RSS as seen by global media house: Power, controversy, push for Hindu-first India

By Rajiv Shah  On a blistering summer evening in Nagpur, nearly a thousand men in brown trousers, white shirts, and black caps stood in formation as a saffron flag was raised, marking a graduation ceremony for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers. This vivid scene, described in a recent FT Weekend Magazine article, “A hundred years after it was founded, India's Hindu-nationalist movement is getting closer to its goal of a Hindu-first state,” captures the enduring presence of the RSS, a century-old Hindu-nationalist organization.