Save the Children has described a draft agreement published at the COP26 climate summit on Wednesday as "incredibly disappointing" and urged governments to make great commitments and not letdown millions of children affected by the climate crisis on a daily basis.

Save the Children New Zealand's Advocacy and Research Director Jacqui Southey says the draft agreement is nowhere near the commitments and actions we need to protect children and their futures from the climate crisis.

"We know from our recent report with Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB) that today’s children will live through far worse impacts of the changing climate than their grandparents. Aotearoa New Zealand's one year olds, for instance, will face some five times as many heatwaves and four times as many droughts compared to older generations, unless drastic action to curb emissions is taken.

"While those in lower- and middle-income countries and marginalised communities will bear the brunt of the climate crisis, we are all at risk. Without substantial increases in ambition and urgency - in emissions reductions, financing particularly for the most vulnerable, and efforts to address the urgent issue of loss and damage - the commitments in this agreement will seem like empty promises to the millions of children that are affected by the climate crisis on a daily basis.

"Already climate vulnerable communities in the Pacific, the irreversible impacts of the climate crisis are hitting children hard.

"This is still a draft agreement, and with three days to go until the end of the summit, there is still time to commit to protecting the world’s children. Leaders need to urgently deliver on their promises if we are to safeguard the most basic rights of children now and in the future."

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