Source: Save the Children

Two thirds of children across Western Europe [1] were exposed to extreme heatwaves between 1 January and 14 July this year, according to new data from Save the Children as temperatures soar and record wildfires ravage parts of Europe. [2]

The child rights organisation said that the number of children impacted by extreme heatwaves during that six-and-a-half-month period was already three times the figure from the whole of 2025 – and more than any entire year since 2003.

Save the Children analysed satellite imagery of surface temperatures covering every part of the world. The aid agency defined an extreme heatwave as three consecutive days experiencing a temperature in the top 1% of all those recorded in that location in the previous 30 years.

The data is particularly stark given the majority of the time period in the analysis covers winter and spring in Western Europe, when temperatures are lower. This suggests that findings for the entire 12 months of 2026 will be even more severe, Save the Children said.

In Germany, the number of children exposed to extreme heat in the first six months of this year was larger than the past five years combined. [3]

In the UK, 10 million children – three quarters of the child population – have been exposed to extreme heat in the first six months of this year. This is more than the total for any single year in the past 30 years. [4]

Children already affected by inequality or discrimination – such as those living in poverty, refugees or children with disabilities or underlying health conditions – are at a unique disadvantage, Save the Children said.

Zainab, 16, a child campaigner with Save the Children UK, said:

“For many people, particularly those living with chronic illnesses, this heat is not simply uncomfortable, it is dangerous. For some, a heatwave means an ice cream, a day in the park or turning on a fan. For others, it’s dehydration, exhaustion, dizziness and pain. Medication can become harder to manage. Existing illnesses becoming more severe.

“I know that because I live it. I have lived with Type 1 diabetes for most of my life. When temperatures rise, managing my health becomes harder. My body does not get to experience extreme heat as a minor inconvenience. The climate crisis does not stay outside my window. It enters through my body. Climate change does not affect everyone equally, but when the temperature rises, inequality rises with it.”

Human-induced climate change is making extreme weather events like heatwaves, drought and wildfires more frequent and severe. Save the Children’s findings reveal that across the globe, extreme heatwaves now reach substantially more children than a generation ago. In the 1990s and 2000s, around one in 10 children worldwide [5] were exposed to an extreme heatwave each year. In the 2020s so far, that average has increased to one in seven children [6]. Two of the four worst years since 1990- the start of the period examined – were in the past three years.

A report by Save the Children and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel last year found that almost a third of the world’s children born in 2020 – about 38 million – would be spared a lifetime’s “unprecedented” exposure to extreme heat [7] if we can meet the 1.5 degrees C warming target by 2100.

The health risks of dangerous heat to young children are acute, due to their ongoing physical development and lower capacity for body temperature regulation. During heatwaves, children are at a high risk of electrolyte imbalance, fever, respiratory disease, and kidney disease. [8]

This kind of unprecedented heat is also disrupting children’s education. In June, schools in France and the UK were forced to close or alter timetables to protect children from dangerous heat as temperatures surged.

Matilde Angeltveit, Senior Advisor and Global Climate Advocacy Lead at Save the Children, said:

“Over the past few months, we have seen the climate crisis unleash unbearable heat on children and families across Europe. Heat like this damages children’s health, disrupts their sleep and schooling, and brings basic services to a standstill. We also fear that crops will fail and food prices surge due to the heat at a time when families are already struggling to cope.

“Children are disproportionately vulnerable to extreme heat, yet they have done the least to contribute to the climate crisis. We know by now that we urgently need to adapt to this situation – but children need us to put their lives, rights and needs front and centre.

“While we need this today, ultimately, in order to safeguard children’s futures, we need to see a rapid phase out of the use and subsidy of fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy in an equitable and fair way. We know that this is in our power, and if we do it in the shrinking time window available to us, children’s exposure to these dangers will be curbed dramatically.”

Save the Children is calling for the recognition of children’s unique vulnerabilities to climate change, the delivery of high-quality, affordable funding to lower-income countries, including financing to cut emissions, and the urgent phase out of the use and subsidy of fossil fuels.

As the world’s leading independent child rights organisation, Save the Children works in over 100 countries, tackling climate change across everything we do and putting children at the heart of climate action.

Notes:

More information available here on 28 July.

[1] Countries included in Western Europe in data set: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK

[2] Methodology available here – full data available on request

[3] Full data available on request

[4] Methodology available here – full data available on request

[4] an average of 200 to 230 million children

[5] 360 million children

[6] For the research in the Born into the Climate Crisis 2 report by Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Save the Children, scientists have defined a heatwave as: when the daily Heat Wave Magnitude Index of that year exceeds the 99th percentile of pre-industrial Heat Wave Magnitude Index distribution for the specific climate model grid cell. The Heat Wave Magnitude Index measures how intense a heatwave is during a year. It looks at the hottest stretch of at least three days in a row when temperatures are much higher than what was normal before industrial times. The higher the number, the more extreme the heatwave.

[7] Born into the Climate Crisis, Save the Children and Vrije Universiteit Brussel

About Save the Children NZ:

Save the Children works in 120 countries across the world. The organisation responds to emergencies and works with children and their communities to ensure they survive, learn and are protected.

Save the Children NZ currently supports international programmes in Fiji, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Areas of work include child protection, education and literacy, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation, and alleviating child poverty.

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KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 8 July 2026 – Philippine Air Force Reserve Brigadier General Michael “Mikee” L. Romero, who heads Mikro-Tech Capital Inc., has been recognized as one of Asia’s most outstanding leaders by ACES Awards.

He was recognized for his multiple successes that has influenced a broader mindset shift for sustainable growth beyond corporate boundaries.

“Brigadier General Romero exemplifies a leader whose multifaceted impact redefines leadership standards, setting a benchmark for future generations,” the ACES Awards 2026 said in its official statement on his winning as one of Outstanding Leaders in Asia.

Mikro-Tech Capital Inc. is an anchor organization in investments management which translates his multiplicity in skills and utmost regard for national transformation through excellence and mindset for the future.

ACES Awards cited Brigadier General Romero as the visionary chairman of Mikro-Tech Capital Inc., whose transformative leadership across multiple sectors manifests his unwavering commitment to nation-building.

Romero’s stewardship of Mikro-Tech Capital has pushed its subsidiaries in power and energy into advancing sustainability goals for the Philippines.

His pioneering approach in port infrastructure has significantly enhanced island connectivity in the Philippines, facilitating economic growth and regional integration, the award statement added.

The council praised Romero’s ability to turn his vision into results and noted that his leadership has fostered a culture of resilience and innovation within his organizations.

The ACES Council said: “Brigadier General Romero exemplifies a leader whose multifaceted impact redefines leadership standards, setting a benchmark for future generations.”

The ACES Awards is among top Asian platforms that meticulous screen and recognize individuals and organizations demonstrating excellence in leadership, sustainability, innovation, and responsible growth.

This year’s program carries the theme “Setting the Benchmark for Enduring Impact.” The ACES awards gala will be in October in Kuala Lumpur.

Brigadier General Romero said: “This honor serves as an affirmation and a challenge—to continue to create opportunities for others. It highlights the potential of Filipino leadership to move the needle for mindsets that change outcomes that yield benefits beyond one’s lifetime.”

A celebrated sportsman, sports patron and businessman, Romero was a legislator with recent focus on poverty alleviation. He devoted the past year on humanitarian service, leading the Philippine Reservist Movement as chairman of the Association of Reservist and Reservist Administrators of the Philippines.

Hashtag: #ACESAwards #Mikro-TechCapitalInc.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

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The Better Taxes for a Better Future campaign welcomes the Green Party’s tax policy announcements released earlier today is an important step towards rebalancing New Zealand’s tax system: to close the gaps in tax on big corporates; to tax wealth, not just hard work; and to generate the revenue we need to fund the things that matter.

“Right now, ordinary people and small to medium local business are paying their tax and contributing the most to funding essential public services, like schools, hospitals and transport infrastructure, while big corporates and the wealthiest people aren’t paying their fair share,” said Kate Stone, Better Taxes campaign manager and spokesperson.

“In 2023 IRD research showed that the wealthiest families were paying less than half (9%) the tax rate of average Kiwis (20%), because while we tax every dollar workers’ earn, we do not tax wealth properly in New Zealand. The Green’s commitment to tax the super-rich 2.5% on net assets over $10m (excluding the family home), and to tax assets and gifts that people receive without working for them where they exceed $1m (excluding family farms and homes), are critical moves if we are going to tackle this unfairness and the inequality it perpetuates. We believe that pairing these policies with a comprehensive Capital Gains Tax would be even better!”

The Better Taxes Campaign considers these policies, alongside the commitment to a $10,000 tax-free threshold and more progressive tax rates, have the potential both to address immediate cost of living pressures, and to tackle skyrocketing wealth inequality that was on full display in last week’s Rich List.

“We’re not anti-wealth or opposed to success. But it’s a question of balance. Over the last 40 years the wealth of the super rich in NZ has increased from $5.3b to $126bn, while child poverty rates have tripled. It is clear that the “success” of the wealthiest few is not lifting up everyone in Aotearoa, and we need to make significant changes now, if we’re to avoid even greater inequality and the breakdown of social cohesion and democracy that come with it, as we’re seeing globally.”

“Better Taxes also welcomes the moves to close some of the gaps in taxes on big corporates, to level the playing field for local small and medium businesses and to ensure the biggest corporations are contributing back into our economy, from which they’re extracting huge profits,” said Stone.

Last year, alongside Tax Justice Aotearoa, we released the Big Tech Little Tax report which  demonstrated that some of the biggest tech companies were making billions of dollars in New Zealand and paying barely any tax. Last week we released expanded and updated research, which estimated tax minimisation practices by Big Tech have conservatively cost over $600m in the last five years.

“Our analysis shows these companies already have obligations under existing law to pay withholding taxes of at least 5% on much of the funds that they send to their parent company overseas and it is great to see the Green Party commit to cracking down on Big Tech,” said Stone.

“Finally, it’s a no brainer to introduce a bank levy on the big four banks. Our recent polling showed there is majority support for such a levy, including amongst voters who support the current government. It was clear during Budget announcements that the Minister of Finance had been keen to advance such a levy, so we hope that there can be cross-party support for this measure that has already been adopted in Australia, the UK and some other EU countries.”

“If the big four try to pass the levy on to their customers then smaller banks will be given an opportunity to compete and people can vote with their feet. We would also recommend an excess profits tax on the big banks, which the UK has adopted, to create a disincentive for the major Australian-owned banks to take Kiwis for a ride, ” said Stone.

You can read the full Better Taxes and Tax Justice Aotearoa policy platform here: https://www.bettertaxes.nz/tax_policy_statement?utm_campaign=greens_tax_policy_2026&utm_medium=email&utm_source=tja

The Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign is a coalition of over 20 organisations led by Tax Justice Aotearoa.

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40 years of the Rich List reveals just how much of our wealth in Aotearoa New Zealand is increasingly accumulating at the very top, while ordinary people see their living standards and opportunities decline – the Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign says this inequality highlights the pressing need for tax changes.

“NBR released its 40th anniversary Rich List today, touting that in that time the collective wealth of the richest people in New Zealand has increased 23-times over, from $5.3bn to $129bn. But this massive accumulation of wealth by a few at the very top has occurred while child poverty rates have tripled,” said Kate Stone, spokesperson for the Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign.

“In the early 1980s the average child poverty rate in New Zealand was about 8%, by 2025 that rate had risen to 21.5%*. That is 248,500 children living in poverty. And for every child living in poverty, their parents, their whānau are living in poverty too.”

“Not only does this represent significant deprivation for many whānau in Aotearoa, but it also represents a significant cost to our society and economy – estimates from the Institute for Democratic and Economic Analysis (IDEA) indicate the cost of child poverty is equivalent to 3.4% of our GDP or $14bn a year,” said Stone.

“So while members of the Rich List might claim they’re creating wider economic benefits, it is clear that rapidly increasing wealth inequality in Aotearoa New Zealand has significant costs. As IDEA points out, the costs manifest in weaker educational results, poor physical and mental health, higher social welfare and justice system costs.”

“Wealth in and of itself is not the problem, the starkly unequal distribution of our wealth as a country is a really serious problem. But there are practical steps we can take to address this issue,” said Stone.

“Right now ordinary people are contributing through taxes on their wages and salaries to funding the things that support people to stay out of poverty and succeed in life – education, healthcare, housing and so on. But those who make money from their accumulated wealth, are not paying their fair share because in New Zealand we tax wealth very lightly, if at all. As a result we are not gathering enough revenue to fund these essential services.”

“If we look around the world we can see that there are sensible tax changes we could make to bring us in line with countries we like to compare ourselves to and gather the revenue we need to give our people the best chance in life. These changes include a comprehensive capital gains tax, a wealth transfer tax on large gifts and inheritances, taxing the accumulated wealth of the super rich and sizable trusts,” Stone points out.

“Rebalancing our tax system so we’re taxing wealth fairly, and not just work, is critical to generating the revenue we need to fund the things that matter. And it is critical to tackling inequality and the concentration of our wealth in the hands of a few, undermining our living standards, social cohesion and democracy.”

Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign Manager

*Note: That is taking the more conservative measure of children in households below the 50% median income after household costs – the numbers are even more stark if expanded to include those below 60% median income, see: Boston (2013); StatsNZ (2026).

The Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign is a coalition of over 20 organisations led by Tax Justice Aotearoa.

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Brain scientists from the University of Auckland are helping communities in the Philippines to better understand a brain disease that only affects Filipino men.

Neuroscientists from the University of Auckland and Massachusetts General Hospital worked together to help set up a brain bank on the small island of Panay in the Philippines

Tissue donated to the brain bank provides a vital resource for the scientists, who are trying to unravel the secrets of X-linked dystonia parkinsonism (XDP).

This degenerative brain disease only strikes men of Filipino descent, often hitting when they are in their twenties or thirties.  

About eight years ago, Distinguished Professor Sir Richard Faull, Associate Professor Henry Waldvogel and Dr Malvindar Singh-Bains from the University of Auckland’s Centre for Brain Research began providing expertise to help people in the Philippines with XDP.

The brain disease has a wide range of symptoms, with many men experiencing severe uncontrolled movements, muscle spasms and tremors.

“They’re not aware of these swaying, jerking movements, until they try to do a task,” says Singh-Bains.

“Eating is a tough one for them. You see men twisting their head back, then forward, or they put a tea towel around their mouth to try to trick their brain into stopping the uncontrolled movements.

“It’s very confronting.”

Many are unable to walk, but don’t have resources like wheelchairs.

“Often, they end up bed-bound, lying on mattresses on the floor,” she says.

Although mothers who carry the gene that causes XDP have no symptoms, many carry a burden of guilt for passing on to their sons the gene that causes the debilitating disease, says Singh-Bains.  

Panay has a population of about 4.5 million and about six out of every 100,000 people there suffer from XDP.

The outreach from Auckland to the Philippines began in 2017, when Harvard University Professor and Chief of Neurology Anne Young asked Sir Richard to join her on a trip to the Philippines to look for ways to help people with XDP.  

In 1994, Sir Richard had founded the Neurological Foundation Human Brain Bank at the University of Auckland, so his expertise was desperately needed in the Philippines.

Two years later, the XDP Brain Bank was launched.

It was funded by the Sunshine Care Foundation and Collaborative Centre for XDP, established by Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine, whose Filipino brother has the condition.

Singh-Bains and Waldvogel first visited the Philippines in 2018, their suitcases packed with essential equipment.

“We instantly knew that we wanted to help,” she says.

“My family is originally from India, and in the Philippines I saw the same extremes of wealth and poverty. So I have a strong sense of connection with the community there.”

Singh-Bains and Waldvogel condensed months of training into four-hour sessions, where locals learned how to painstakingly preserve brains donated by the families of people with XDP, after they passed away.

The methods they demonstrated in Manila and on Panay allow the tissue to be used for research at Auckland and Harvard universities.

The neuroscientists hope to uncover what happens inside a brain with XDP – and eventually find ways to treat the condition, says Singh-Bains, who is the Douglas Research Fellow at the Neurological Foundation Human Brain Bank.

From Auckland, she continues to guide staff and volunteers in the Philippines on brain preservation techniques, sometimes through late night video calls.

Tissue from more than 100 brains has now been processed by the brain bank in Panay.

Singh-Bains leads a team that has been working on identifying the ‘disease signature’ of XDP in brain tissue sent from Panay to Auckland. This work has been funded by the Collaborative Centre for XDP.

Later this year, the University of Auckland team hope to publish their groundbreaking discovery of the blueprint of the disease in the striatum, part of the brain that is crucial for controlling body movement.

“We’ve spent the past four years trying to figure out what the disease signature is in the striatum – and we think we’ve finally cracked it,” says Singh-Bains.  

Mapping the signature of XDP in the brain will allow scientists to replicate the disease in lab-grown brain cells and animal models.  

From there, researchers can start hunting for treatments that might relieve symptoms, prevent the onset of the disease, or delay its impacts.  

Earlier this year, Sir Richard and Singh-Bains returned to the Philippines to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Panay brain bank and Collaborative Centre for XDP.

They met with about 400 patients, family members and medical professionals, who expressed “immense gratitude” for their support, says Sir Richard.

Singh-Bains says the Western world doesn’t always care about illnesses that affect people in distant lands.

“We get asked why brain scientists here in New Zealand are studying a disease that mostly affects people in the Philippines.

“Our answer is clear: We’re trying to help humanity,” she says.

Sir Richard adds: “They reached out for our help and you can’t say no.”

Right now, the only treatment available to people with XDP in the Philippines is Botox injections, which help ease their movement symptoms for a few months.

“We’re giving all we can to try to find a better treatment,” says Singh-Bains.

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