A UNICEF Nepal advocacy brief reported on 4 November 2026 warns that millions of children in Nepal face overlapping climate, environmental and disaster risks affecting their health, nutrition, education and protection. The brief, "Growing Up in a Climate Hotspot," draws on national and global data sources, including the Global Child Hazard Database, Nepal's Children's Climate Risk Index-Disaster Risk Model, the Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2024-25 and UNICEF Nepal's Climate Landscape Analysis for Children.

According to the brief, 9.9 million children are exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution, 7.3 million to drought, 5.7 million to extreme hot days and 2.9 million to rainfall-triggered landslides, while an estimated 2.4 million face multiple high-intensity hazards. It also notes that only 47.5 per cent of the population has access to safely managed drinking water, one in four children under five is stunted, and 22 per cent of children live in multidimensional poverty.

Ahead of COP31, UNICEF Nepal called for children's needs to be integrated into climate policy and financing and for greater investment in child-responsive adaptation. The brief says Nepal's government endorsed the Declaration on Children, Youth and Climate Action at a national climate summit on 29 October, with a formal handover planned at COP31 in Türkiye.