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A new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on the impacts of the climate crisis has revealed that about one billion children in the world live in one of the 33 “extremely high risk” countries. Out of 163 countries surveyed, Nigeria reportedly ranked second in terms of risk that climate change poses to children. The report titled “The Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI)” is said to be “the first comprehensive analysis of climate risk from a child’s perspective.”
The index ranks countries based on “children’s exposure to climate and environmental shocks, such as cyclones and heat waves, as well as their vulnerability to those shocks, based on their access to essential services.” According to Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director, “for the first time, we have a complete picture of where and how children are vulnerable to climate change, and that picture is almost unimaginably dire. 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.”
Although Nigeria is ranked alongside Chad and the Central African Republic (ranked first) in the index, Nigerian children, the report says, are highly exposed to air pollution and coastal floods. Thirteen African countries ranked from worst to safest in the list include Central African Republic (1), Chad and Nigeria (2), Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Somalia (4) Niger, South Sudan (7), DR Congo (9), Angola, Cameroon, Madagascar, Mozambique (10).
However, the study observed that “investments in social services, particularly child health, nutrition and education can make a significant difference in our ability to safeguard their futures from the impacts of climate change.” According to Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Nigerian Representative, “the climate crisis is a child’s rights crisis. We need to invest in the services children depend on to survive and thrive, such as water, healthcare and education, to protect their futures from the impacts of a changing climate and degrading environment.”
According to the CCRI, 240 million children are highly exposed to coastal flooding; 330 million children are highly exposed to riverine flooding; 400 million children are highly exposed to cyclones; 600 million children are highly exposed to vector borne diseases; 815 million children are highly exposed to lead pollution and 920 million children are highly exposed to water scarcity.
The damning report on impacts of climate crisis risks is a warning to Nigeria’s health authorities and development planners to wake up and prioritise issues that affect children. For long, our political leaders have toyed with matters that affect children, the future leaders of the country. At present, most Nigerian primary schools are in dilapidated condition and in some of them the teaching and learning materials are inadequate. In some primary schools, many of the teachers are not certificated to teach. Nigeria currently has about 13 million out-of-school children, one of the highest in the world.
Yet, we are among the major oil-producing countries in the world. The nation’s primary health care system is nothing to write home about. Many of the 774 local governments cannot boast of a functional primary healthcare centre. Although malaria is curable, many Nigerian children still die from malaria and other preventable diseases. It has been reported that between December 2016 and May 2017, a total of 14,280 suspected meningitis cases were reported across 23 of the 36 states of Nigeria. There were 1,145 deaths (8 per cent fatality rate) among suspected cases. Malaria accounts for 45 per cent of all outpatients and about 50 per cent of children suffer from one episode of it every year. An estimated 137,600 diarrhea deaths in children under-15 years of age was recorded in 2008 in the country linked to climate change. Sadly, most homes do not have access to potable water and steady electricity.
It must be mentioned that Nigeria has not done enough to cut down the emission of greenhouse gases. Despite missing some gas flaring deadlines (1979, 1984, 2004, 2008, 2020 and 2021); the government has resolved to end such unhealthy practice by 2025, while all flares will end by 2030. It is hoped that the new deadline will not be shifted again.
We call on the government to invest in climate adaptation and key services for children, including water sanitation and hygiene systems, health and education. Let young people be included in national, regional and global initiatives to mitigate the effects of climate change.
