Policy Brief: Extreme Heat and Children’s Development and Wellbeing

Children are disproportionately impacted by heatwaves, which are becoming more intense, frequent and longer in duration. New research by Save the Children shows that in 12 months from July 2023 to June 2024, a record number of children – 766 million children – representing a third of the world’s children experienced extreme heatwaves. In the same period, one in six children experienced the highest temperature recorded in their location since at least 1980. The briefing outlines the unique impacts of heatwaves on children’s health and wellbeing and provides recommendations to protect children from them.