Climate shock: More than 40% of African youth discouraged from starting families because of climate crisis - report

• Forty-three percent of young people in Sub Sahara Africa are uninspired to start a family because of climate change impacts.
• Fifty-two percent of young people in Sub-Saharan Africa say they now have less to eat because of climate change.
• Unicef urges world leaders at COP27 to address the anxiety and worries of the youth.

The prospect of the Generation Alpha demographic cultivating family units could be under threat because of climate change.

A new report has found that almost half of the youth in Africa are discouraged from starting families.

Young people in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa share the same view, and their perception is above the global average, according to research by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).

"Globally, two in five (40%) young people said the impacts of climate change have made them reconsider their desire to start a family. 

"This concern was highest in African regions, with the greatest percentage of young people reporting that they are reconsidering having children found in the Middle East and North Africa (44%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (43%)," the report claims.

The respondents' beliefs were impacted by their experiences of climate shocks, which in turn compromised their access to food and water and their family's economic survival.

Paloma Escudero, the head of Unicef's COP27 delegation, said the impact of climate change "extends to our very sense of hope". He added that it was "far more than floods, droughts, and heatwaves".

Escudero said world leaders attending the COP27 event in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, should address the concerns of the youth, particularly in Africa's case, as a matter of urgency.

"Especially in Africa, young people are seeing the impact these shocks are having on themselves and those they love, and it is changing their plans for the future. But it doesn't have to. At COP27, world leaders must listen to this anxiety from young people and take immediate action to protect them," she added.

Key findings

About 40% of respondents revealed they had less food to eat because of climate change. The highest percentage of young people reporting this impact was in Sub-Saharan Africa (52%), followed by the Middle East and North Africa (31%).

Twenty-five percent of participants said their family's income source was impacted by the climate crisis. This finding was most prevalent in the Middle East and North Africa (34%), followed by Sub-Saharan Africa (32%).

One in five said it was becoming more challenging to get clean water. This finding was most prevalent in the Middle East and North Africa (35%), followed by East Asia and the Pacific (30%).

Three in five respondents considered moving to another city or country because of climate change. This was reported by as many as 70% of respondents in the Middle East and North Africa and 66% in Latin America and the Caribbean.