Special Initiatives

Climate Change

The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation will soon embark on a special initiative focused on protecting the well-being of children who are at particular risk from the effects of global climate change.

The impacts of drought, desertification and shifting climatic zones could devastate poor countries by worsening already tenuous water and food supply conditions, dramatically increasing hunger and disease. Research shows that maternal and child malnutrition are among the greatest risks to child survival globally, while lack of clean water supply is another.
A recent report from UNICEF UK, Our Climate, Our Children, Our Responsibility, articulates the direct connection between climate and the future of children in the developing world. Children in Africa and Asia in particular face the prospect of more frequent disasters, environmental pressures and resulting conflicts that make education, healthy living conditions and good nutrition even harder to secure. UNICEF products that current climate trends to could cause up to 160,000 child deaths a year from slowed economic growth alone.