A quarter of a million children could die next year due to the effects of climate change, Save the Children has warned. Skip related content
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Climate change 'could kill 250,000 children'
The charity said the figure could rise to more than 400,000 per year by 2030.
Its newly launched report, Feeling the Heat, claims that climate change is the biggest global health threat to children in the 21st century.
Save the Children is urging world leaders to put children first during climate change negotiations in Barcelona this week, ahead of the Copenhagen summit in December.
Ultravox star Midge Ure, a Save the Children ambassador, recently returned to Ethiopia, 25 years after the 1984 famine which prompted him to create Band Aid with Bob Geldof.
"Climate change is no longer a distant, futuristic scenario, but an immediate threat," he said.
"We've all heard about the East African food crisis but I've been in Ethiopia seeing first hand the impact it's having on children's lives.
"I've seen how vulnerable children are to the effects of climate change.
"Erratic rainfall means farmers can no longer predict the weather and have lost their crops which are a vital source of food for their family.
"I asked one farmer in the highlands of Ethiopia what would happen if the food aid stopped coming. He replied: 'It is in the hands of the gods.' Maybe we could lend a hand as well?"
Yusuf Islam, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, is strolling back onto the stage after a break of 33 years.
