Save the Children UK is the world’s independent children’s rights organisation. We’re outraged that millions of children are still denied proper healthcare, food, education and protection and we’re determined to change that. Save the Children UK is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, transforming children’s lives in more than 100 countries.

children-in-myanmar.jpgEvery year, nearly 9 million children die before their fifth birthday and 98% of them are born in the poorest countries of the world. These children are dying from diseases like diarrhoea, malnutrition and malaria — diseases that could be prevented and treated.

Climate change will make these diseases and conditions more common. For example, it will accelerate the spread of malaria in various parts of the world. Dirty water and unsafe sanitation is a major secondary cause of child mortality. Climate change affects people’s access to clean water and therefore increases the risk of waterborne disease among children.

Climate change disrupts seasonal patterns, which can have a negative impact on crop yields. It's also creating more extreme weather patterns. Over the past two decades the number of natural disasters has doubled. More floods, cyclones and droughts means more children’s lives are at risk.
And their severity is predicted to increase with climate change.

Save the Children estimates that 250,000 children could die because of climate change in 2010, with millions more severely affected.

Read our new report, Feeling the Heat, to find out more.