UNICEF's Children’s Climate Risk Report 2026 finds half the world’s children, about 1.1 billion, are now exposed to at least three overlapping climate hazards, including extreme heatwaves, storms, floods and droughts. The report says almost every child worldwide faces at least one climate hazard, with roughly 1.8 billion exposed to drought and 1.2 billion to extreme heat. UNICEF urges governments to embed child-specific safety, education and health metrics into national climate plans and to scale resilient infrastructure finance to cut exposure. Children in low-income and fragile contexts face the highest intensity and overlap of hazards, threatening education, health and long-term development.
