Malta has ranked 18 out of 180 countries when it comes to how children are flourishing, according to a new study.
The in-depth report analyses how the various countries are faring when measuring children’s survival, health, education and nutrition.
Malta received a score of 1.00, putting the island within the “good” category.
However, the islands did not do as well when it came to the environmental future of the next generation, ranking 103 out of the 180 countries studied.
Nations were ranked on the level of carbon emissions they produce – with Malta emitting 24 per cent more CO2 per capita than its 2030 target.
Specifically, researchers looked at how countries were doing when it came to promises that were made during the Paris climate talks of 2015.
Back then, hundreds of governments vowed to reduce their carbon output but this latest report found most are failing, including in Malta, which is currently 24 per cent over its agreed target.
Surprisingly, the landmark report – entitled A Future for the World’s Children? – found that where some countries do well when it comes to the well-being of children, they fail when it comes to climate change.
Some countries do well when it comes to the well-being of children but fail when it comes to climate change
For example, children in Norway, the Republic of Korea and the Netherlands have the best chance at survival, while children in the Central African Republic, Chad, Somalia, Niger and Mali have the worst odds.
But environmentally, Norway ranked 156/180, the Republic of Korea 166 and the Netherlands 160, with all three emitting 210 per cent more CO2 per capita than their 2030 target.
The only countries in the list which scored well in both categories were Albania, Armenia, Grenada, Jordan, Moldova, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Uruguay and Vietnam.
The report – that was carried out by the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and The Lancet – also highlighted the distinct threat posed to children by harmful marketing.
Evidence suggests that children in some countries see as many as 30,000 advertisements on television alone in a single year while teenager’s’ exposure to vaping advertisements in-creased by more than 250 per cent in the US over two years, reaching more than 24 million young people.