Davey asked to help starving children
UNICEF UK has called on the Government to keep its promise that G8 nations will raise $100bn to help poor countries adapt to climate change.
The charity has released a new poll of young people aged 11 to 16 years old, which shows that 74% agreed that they are worried about how climate change will affect the future of the planet.
63% of young people were worried about how climate change will affect other children and families in developing countries
UNICEF UK, as part of the Enough Food For Everyone IF coalition, has launched an online petition calling on Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey to make good on the climate cash promise.
Today government representatives from around Europe, including Mr Davey, are meeting in Dublin for a two-day conference on hunger, nutrition and climate justice.
The UK Government with other G8 governments promised to raise $100bn on top of aid to help poor countries adapt to climate change.
UNCEF UK said a carbon levy on international shipping and aviation fuels could raise billions of pounds and should be earmarked to help poor families cope with climate change.
The charity also wants the Government set aside more money to protect millions more families in the Comprehensive Spending Review at the end of June.
David Bull, UNICEF UK’s Executive Director, said:
“The results of this survey offer a timely reminder to politicians gathering this week in Dublin that climate change is an issue of tremendous concern to Britons and casts a long shadow over young people’s view of their future.
“Each year two million children die because they can't get enough food to eat and the lives of a further 165 million children are blighted by chronic under-nutrition.
“Rising temperatures and variations in rainfall combined with increasingly frequent and severe natural disasters are making it harder for families to get enough nutritious food. And as always it is children - those least responsible for climate change - who are the hardest hit.”
