Three in four displaced people live in climate danger zones, UN says
The UN refugee agency UNHCR says about 90 million refugees and other forcibly displaced people face severe climate risks. Its report comes days before the COP31 climate conference in Turkey.
Three-quarters of the world's displaced people live in countries heavily exposed to climate-related hazards, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday. The report was released days before the COP31 UN climate conference in Turkey, and the agency is urging swift action to protect those affected.
According to UNHCR, nearly 90 million refugees and other forcibly displaced people face serious risks tied to a warming planet. Having fled conflict, violence and persecution, many now find themselves in places dealing with severe droughts, deadly floods and extreme heat.
"Refugees face a double injustice," said Anton Leis Garcia, UNHCR's assistant high commissioner for operations. He said people forced to flee conflicts they did not cause are now on the frontlines of a climate crisis they have contributed least to.
Returns and internal displacement
Climate change is also increasingly threatening lasting solutions for displaced people. More than two-thirds of refugees who returned home in the first half of this year went back to countries highly vulnerable to climate hazards. In Syria, where nearly four million displaced people have recently returned, declining groundwater and climate shocks are endangering recovery. UNHCR cited flooding along the Euphrates River last May that damaged homes and displaced thousands again.
Extreme heat is a growing threat too: by 2050, one in three refugee settlements across sub-Saharan Africa could face 100 or more days of dangerous heat each year.
Weather-related disasters have caused more than 255 million internal displacements over the past decade, or 70,000 a day. This year's exceptionally strong El Nino is expected to drive even more displacement. In East Africa, forecasts suggest that severe flooding linked to the phenomenon could displace up to three million people across Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda by the end of 2026.
Call ahead of COP31
UNHCR said only 10 percent of global climate finance goes to fragile and conflict-affected countries that host large numbers of climate-exposed displaced people. During COP31, the organisation will call on governments and climate finance institutions to include refugees and other displaced populations in national climate plans and financing mechanisms.
