UNICEF In Qatar Says About 80% Of Child Diseases Caused By Climate Change

DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd February, 2023) About 80% of childhood diseases are caused by climate change, Anthony MacDonald, UNICEF representative in Qatar, said on Tuesday.

Around 80% of childhood diseases are caused by the negative effects of climate change, with 920 million children having no access to clean drinking water and 42 million children having to leave their homes because of weather conditions, MacDonald told a UN conference on human rights and climate change in Qatar.

The official also said that about two million children in the world breathe polluted air.

According to UNICEF data, by 2050, 24 million children will be suffering from malnutrition as a result of climate change and 175 million children will be affected by natural disasters.

MacDonald stated that children in the middle East and Africa are subjected the most to the negative influence of climate change, with 11 out of 17 countries of the region facing severe water shortages.

Moreover, according to scientists' forecasts, by 2050 the temperature in the region will rise by four degrees Celsius and the sea level will rise from one to four feet by the end of the century. Nine out of ten children in the countries of the Middle East already live in regions lacking drinking water, UNICEF said.