More than 1.2 million children in the Pacific are impacted by the climate crisis, affecting the health, well-being and very survival of children.
This was highlighted by UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell following her trip to Fiji and Vanuatu and says these children’s futures are largely reliant on decision-makers in larger, wealthier countries who continue to drag their feet.
The Executive Director says the Pacific Island nations are collectively responsible for less than one-tenth of one per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions that are warming our planet, yet these countries are on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
Russell says people in Fiji are worried about what the climate crisis will do to their lives, especially as it amplifies other issues such as poverty and extremely high levels of violence against children.
UNICEF is calling on all countries to commit to better-protecting children in their national climate action plans and to investing the resources necessary to turn those plans into reality.
She says UNICEF has deployed an innovative finance solution in the Pacific with the Today and Tomorrow initiative, the world’s first integrated climate and disaster risk finance mechanism specifically targeted at and designed for children.
She adds the Today and Tomorrow initiative enables us to protect up to 14 million children and families against tropical cyclones in eight countries over three years, including Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
