A UNICEF report published on Thursday, September 10, 2026, estimated that more than 171 million students worldwide had their schooling disrupted by climate-related shocks in 2025.
Last year, extreme climate shocks such as heatwaves, storms, or fires disrupted the schooling of more than 171 million students worldwide, the report notes.
While no country is spared from these schooling disruptions, there are large disparities between continents, as summarized by Jodie Soret, head of Programs and Advocacy at UNICEF France. “This report also shows that three-quarters of the children affected by these upheavals in their schooling live in southern, relatively poor countries. This is worrying. That said, wealthy countries are not spared,” she explains.
Climate shocks, increasingly frequent and intense due to global warming, have had “heavy repercussions on schooling” for more than 171 million children in 106 countries last year, UNICEF notes, adding that these figures should be interpreted with “caution” due to data gaps. From kindergarten through high school, one in ten students’ education has therefore been impacted by closed classes, destroyed schools or prolonged holidays.
In this regard, UNICEF calls for investments, notably to renovate educational infrastructure or to build new ones that are more resilient to these shocks.
In 2024, nearly 250 million children in 85 countries, or about one in seven, were in this situation, according to the UN agency. The decline is explained by a change in methodology, rather than an improvement in the climate situation. While UNICEF previously relied on government figures, it now bases its studies on information from humanitarian agencies and local media.
Girls are more at risk of dropping out than boys
But this imbalance between countries is not the only inequality noted by the report. Some children are more affected than others by class closures. “We know that some children who will be affected by disruptions to their schooling have a higher risk of not returning to school. And in many cases, these are girls,” reiterates Jodie Soret. When girls do not go to school, they often begin to work, often in domestic tasks: they fetch water, and, quite quickly, the girl becomes indispensable within her household for it to continue to function.
Girls are also more exposed to the risk of stopping school when parents struggle to feed their children. “In that case, what can happen is that one will marry off her daughter,” continues Jodie Soret.
