The Netherlands is third in the world when it comes to ensuring its children are healthy, well-fed and educated but languishes in 160^th place in a second ranking which looks at the likely impact of CO2 emissions on children, according to a new United Nations report.

The new global index puts Norway, South Korea and the Netherlands at the top of the ranking, which studies how countries perform in making sure children are happy and healthy.

But the Netherlands plunges to near bottom of a second list of 180 countries which looks at excess carbon emissions per head of the population.

All three top ranked countries have per capita carbon emissions more than 210% higher than the sustainability target for 2030, the report said.

‘Therefore, the two country ranks provide us with our child flourishing and futures profile, a combination of a country’s achievement on surviving and thriving today, with the damage they might cause through greenhouse gas emissions to children in future.’

No country

‘No country in the world is currently providing the conditions we need to support every child to grow up and have a healthy future,’ said Anthony Costello, professor of global health and sustainability at University College London, one of the lead authors of the report.

‘In particular, they are under immediate threat from climate change and from commercial marketing, which has grown hugely in the last decade,’ Costello said.

The report was commissioned by the World Health Organisation, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and The Lancet medical journal.