Extreme weather events pushed 27 million children into hunger last year, Save the Children reported on Tuesday.
This represents a sharp 135% increase from 2021.
Children make up nearly half of the 57 million people facing acute food insecurity due to extreme weather in 2022, according to the IPC hunger monitoring system.
Horn of Africa countries were the most affected, with Ethiopia and Somalia accounting for about half of the hungry children.
“Climate-related weather events will have more drastic consequences on children’s lives,” said Save the Children CEO Inger Ashing.
Save the Children urged COP28 leaders to recognize children as “key agents of change” and address food insecurity causes like conflict and weak health systems.
Somalia, one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, is trapped in a cycle of drought and floods.
Torrential rains and flooding displaced 650,000 Somalis, half of them children.
Two million Pakistani children remain acutely malnourished after last year’s floods.
Save the Children estimates 774 million children, one-third of the global child population, face the dual impacts of poverty and high climate risk.
Over 17.6 million children will be born into hunger this year, one-fifth more than a decade ago, Save the Children reported last week.
The report calls for urgent action to protect children from climate change and food insecurity.
Save the Children urges world leaders to prioritize children’s well-being at COP28.