A new report by the Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative, which includes the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the humanitarian organizations Plan International and Save the Children, indicated that only 2.4% of the world’s major climate capitals support actions aimed at children.

The study based its findings on three criteria that assess the financing of the major multilateral climate funds that support the work of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.

Such guidelines are: addressing the various risks suffered from the climate crisis, strengthening the resilience of critical social services for children, and empowering children as agents of change.

Out of all money allocated over 17 years (until March 2023) by multilateral climate funds to environment-related projects, just a tiny portion (2.4%) met all three requirements, amounting to an investment of $1.2 billion.

These climate amounts provide a relatively small share of global climate finance. They really play a pivotal role in planning and coordinating investments of other public and private financial institutions that are needed to drive broader change.

Water and food scarcity, waterborne diseases, and physical and psychological trauma disproportionately affect children, all factors related to extreme weather events and slow-onset climate impacts.

The study indicated that children are often treated as a vulnerable group rather than as active stakeholders or agents of change.

Less than 4% of projects, which account for only 7% of multilateral climate fund investment (some $2.58 billion), explicitly and meaningfully consider the needs and participation of girls.

The Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative urged multilateral climate funds to act quickly and calls for funding to cover loss and damage caused by climate change with priority for the well-being of children.

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