Over-Consumption By Wealthy Countries is ‘Creating Dangerous Conditions For Children Across The World’

Over-consumption in the richest countries in the world is destroying children’s environments around the world, according to a new report. The Report Card published by the UNICEF Office of Research says that the majority of wealthy countries are creating unhealthy, dangerous, and noxious conditions for children all across the world.

Source: UnicefUK/Youtube

The Report Card compares how 43 different countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and European Union (EU) contribute to the unhealthy environments that children are subject to. The report highlights exposure to harmful pollutants like toxic air, pesticides, mold, and lead. It also examines access to light, green spaces, and safe roads and countries’ contributions to the climate crisis, consumption of resources, and the dumping of e-waste.

According to the report, if everyone in the world consumed resources at the rate that people in these 43 countries do, 3.3 Earths would be needed to keep up with the absurd consumption levels. Even more frightening, if everyone consumed resources like people in Canada, Luxembourg, and the United States do, at least five Earths would be needed.

The report features a league table that ranks the 43 countries that are failing to provide healthy environments for children across all indicators. There is a trend of some of the wealthiest countries having a severe and widespread impact on the global environment, based on CO2 emissions, e-waste, and overall consumption of resources per capita.

“Not only are the majority of rich countries failing to provide healthy environments for children within their borders, they are also contributing to the destruction of children’s environments in other parts of the world,” said Gunilla Olsson, Director of UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti. “In some cases we are seeing countries providing relatively healthy environments for children at home while being among the top contributors to pollutants that are destroying children’s environments abroad.”

Other shocking findings on the Report Card revealed that:

• 20 million children in these countries have high levels of lead in their blood, which is one of the most dangerous toxic substances.
• In Iceland, Latvia, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, 1 in 5 children are exposed to dampness and mold at home. In Cyprus, Hungary, and Turkey, more than 1 in 4 children is exposed.
• Children are breathing toxic air inside and outside of their homes. Mexico has the highest number of healthy life lost due to air Pollution at a heartbreaking 3.7 years per thousand children.

UNICEF is calling for governments to take steps to protect and improve children’s environments, including reducing waste, reducing air and water Pollution, helping families who are disproportionately affected, and overall putting children at the forefront of decision making. To learn more about the Report Card and UNICEF’s mission, check out their website.

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