1 billion children at 'extremely high risk' of climate crisis impacts: Unicef

UNITED NATIONS. KAZINFORM One billion children are at an «extremely high risk» of the impacts of the climate crisis, according to a new report from Unicef, whose chief described the situation as «unimaginably dire.»

The Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria, Guinea and Guinea Bissau top the list of countries where minors are most at risk, according to the United Nations agency's first child-focused climate risk index released Thursday, EFE reports.

According to Unicef, the 1 billion children, about half of the 2.2 billion on the planet, live in the 33 countries considered «extremely high risk.»

These children face a deadly combination of exposure to multiple climate and environmental shocks with a high vulnerability due to inadequate essential services, such as water and sanitation, healthcare and education, the agency said in a statement.

«For the first time, we have a complete picture of where and how children are vulnerable to climate change, and that picture is almost unimaginably dire,» said Unicef executive director Henrietta Fore.