World leaders out of excuses on climate change, Thunberg, youth activists say

FILE PHOTO: Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg takes part in a climate strike protest during the 50th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 24, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The world's children cannot afford more empty promises at this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), youth activists including Greta Thunberg said, after a U.N. report found virtually no child will escape the impact of global warming.

In the first index of its kind, published on Friday, U.N. children's agency UNICEF found that almost all the world's 2.2 billion children are exposed to at least one climate or environmental risk, from catastrophic floods to toxic air.