Women and children are fourteen times more likely to die in a disaster than men. Children are the most vulnerable in these situations. Climate change is a perceptible and immediate reality, not just a future challenge. Countries everywhere are experiencing the growing impact of our changing climate from droughts in the United States to changing rainy seasons in Sub-Saharan Africa and an increasing number of cyclones in South East Asia.
World Meteorological Organisation highlighted that 94 per cent of countries had their warmest ever decade in 2001-10; there were 511 tropical cyclone-related events that killed nearly 170,000 people, affected more than 250 million, and caused estimated economic damages of US$ 380 billion. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimates that in the last 10 years, climate-related disasters have led to global economic losses of US$ 2.0 trillion.
Recent World Bank figures suggest that we are on course for 4° C warming, while the International Energy Agency (IEA) says we are on course to reach 5.7° C of warming by the end of the century. The Stern Review estimates that coping with the impacts of climate change could cost up to 0.7% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that towards the end of the 21st century, the cost of climate adaptation could amount to at least 5 to 10 per cent of GDP and such losses will have a significant impact on the GDP of the countries and intensify the economic challenges facing children as they grow up. With temperature increases of 2° C, an additional 30 to 200 million people will be placed at risk of hunger across the world, rising to as many as 550 million with warming of 3° C.
Oxfam predicted that by 2015, the number of people affected by climate-related disasters each year is likely to rise by an estimated 50 per cent from 250 million per year today to 375 million. WHO estimated about 88% of the existing global burden of diseases due to climate change occurs in children under the age of five. The Climate Vulnerability Monitor estimates that by 2030, the economic losses from floods, storms and landslides will reach US$ 195 billion a year.
The last IPCC assessment reinforced this finding, stating that climate change and temperature fluctuations were affecting children's health and citing evidence that higher temperature was strongly associated with increased episodes of diarrhoea in adults and children in Peru. In addition, associations between monthly temperature and diarrhoea have also been reported in the Pacific Islands, Australia and Israel.
Climate change is already undermining existing gains in human development and exacerbating many of the key development challenges faced by children everywhere, making it more difficult for children to survive and flourish and reach their full potential. The children of developing countries are suffering most, despite being the least responsible for the causes of climate change. Developing countries will be worst hit by future changes in rainfall patterns, more frequent and intense natural disasters, and an increase in droughts and floods. Due to climate change children in developing countries face a greater risk of climate-linked diseases like malaria and cholera, increased risk of food and water shortages, and disruption to their education.
Recent report of UNICEF assessed that there are more 600 million children living in the 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change. Children's vulnerability to climate change in Bangladesh is 41%, India 36%, Madagascar 46%, Nepal 42%, Mozambique 48%, Philippines 39%, Haiti 43%, Afghanistan 46%, Zimbabwe 47%, Myanmar 33%, and in UK 20%. IPCC appraised that there will be 30 million more malnourished children as a result of climate change by 2050, while CVM highlighted a range of health impacts that should be expected by 2030. Impaired mental development linked to malnutrition can affect attainment at school and restrict later job prospects. It is estimated that by 2050, some 25 million more children will be malnourished due to climate change.
A study of UNICEF in Bangladesh found that the number of non-cholera diarrhoea cases per week increased by 5.1% for every 10mm increase above the threshold of 52mm of average rainfall. This will distress the children of today and the children of 2050, accumulative ailment, confining entrance to edification and life chances.
In 2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan assessed that a sound understanding of environmental issues comes from recognising the interconnectedness of social and biophysical factors. As we comprehend these relationships better, we gain more insight into the roles that equity and justice play in environmental affairs. Around the globe, Environmental Justice has emerged as a field of study to examine the actions, processes, and institutions through which environmental inequalities arise and are maintained. Environmental Justice is able to tackle global issues such as climate change, renewable resources, environmental health, governance, sustainability, agriculture, food security, forest dynamics, exposure to hazards, mitigation, spatial analysis, community revitalisation, green jobs and environmental workforce dynamics, and open space. Environmental Justice is important to judge and evaluate the surroundings with a view to developing a broad understanding of the historical and contemporary factors that shape environmental justice movements around the world, to study the mechanisms that give rise to class, gender, racial, and other kinds of disparities, to study affected constituents communities, industry, government, environmental activists, policy makers, and scholars - to learn about the causes and consequences of inequitable distributions of environmental benefits and hazards, to learn about various methods for researching environmental justice issues and strategies for formulating policies and collaborating with communities, to examine the historical, scientific, social, legal, cultural, and political complexities of the relationship between people and the built and natural environments. Now it is time to set up environment related learning to each and every part of education system in our country.
The writer is a Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman Science and Technology University (BSMRSTU), Gopalganj. Email: anisrahaman01@gmail.com
Natural disasters, child health and environmental justice
Mohammad Anisur Rahaman | Published: January 11, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2025 06:01:00
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