Climate vulnerability threatens children in more than 330 Brazilian municipalities

The data comes from the Children and Environment Panel, an online platform with data on environmental exposure of children and adolescents in all municipalities in the country. The tool consolidates 14 indicators, organized into four areas: school environment, extreme weather events, air quality, and environmental and urban infrastructure. The indicators are also classified into priority levels, considering the situation of each municipality, to help public managers in addressing these vulnerabilities.

As Folha points out, the North, Northeast and Central-West regions concentrate the majority of municipalities with ten or more indicators in a high priority situation, which indicates the need for immediate action. The North emerges as the most vulnerable region: 42% of municipalities fall into this classification, especially in Pará, Acre and Amazonas. On the other hand, there are 108 municipalities across the country that do not register high priority in any of the indicators analyzed.

In many regions, the challenges are similar, although with different characteristics. Valor highlights the air quality indicator: the North region has 94% of its municipalities with high priority, followed by the Southeast, with 39% of cities in this condition. In the North, however, pollution is linked to forest fires, while in the Southeast the problem is caused by road transport and industrial activity.

The panel also shows how extreme weather events affect regions unevenly. More intense rains are a high priority indicator for 91% of municipalities in the North and 68% in the South. Heat waves are more frequent in the Central-West (64%) and the North (60%). Droughts are more common in the Southeast (38%) and the Central-West (28%).

The school environment is also challenging in much of the country. According to the panel, 71% of cities in the North have schools that do not simultaneously have running water, sanitation and garbage collection. In the Northeast, this rate is 49%. In the Southeast, a chronic problem is the lack of green areas in educational units, highlight O Globo and g1.

“Children and adolescents are the most affected by the impacts of climate change and pollution, although they are the ones who contribute least to this scenario”, commented Joaquin Gonzalez-Aleman, UNICEF representative in Brazil.

Data on the environmental and climate vulnerability of Brazilian children and adolescents were also shared by O Povo, R7, Revista Cenarium, TV Brasil and Um Só Planeta.