Overview

• A May 2025 report by Save the Children and Vrije Universiteit Brussel reveals that 83% of children born in 2020 will face unprecedented lifetime heatwave exposure under current policies leading to 2.7°C warming by 2100.
• Limiting global warming to the Paris Agreement target of 1.5°C could spare 38 million children from dangerous heatwaves and significantly reduce exposure to cyclones, floods, droughts, wildfires, and crop failures.
• Current international climate finance, including the $300 billion COP29 pledge for low-income countries by 2035, falls far short of the adaptation and mitigation needs, particularly for children.
• Only 2.4% of funding from major climate funds is allocated to child-responsive projects, leaving vulnerable children underserved in the face of increasing climate extremes.
• Cuts to international aid budgets are worsening the situation, with wealthier nations scaling back support as climate-related disasters grow more frequent and severe, threatening children's futures.